The only candidate for the presidency of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), Samir Xaud, waves during the election day at the CBF headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 25, 2025. The Brazilian Football Confederation elected its new president, Samir Xaud, on Sunday, following the recent dismissal of the previous president and on the eve of the arrival of coach Carlo Ancelotti to revive the ailing Seleção. (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP) (Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL/AFP via Getty Images)
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Samir Xaud stood with a smile on the touchline: Brazil had just beaten Senegal, one of two countries they had never defeated, 2-0 in a warm-up match. Yet, the 90 minutes had been fierce, punctuated by high pressing, grit, and physical defending. With first-half goals, Estevao, the Chelsea star, and Casemiro, the Manchester United midfielder, had decided the game. Xaud congratulated Casemiro, Marquinhos, and Vinicius Junior – the last three to trudge off the pitch.
At 41, Xaud has been the president of the Confederation of Brazilian Football (CBF), the apex body of soccer in the country, since May. He replaced Ednaldo Rodrigues, removed from his role by a local court. Rodrigues, from the state of Bahia, had styled himself as a modern, anti-racist administrator. He was, after all, the first black chairman of the organization in modern history, but under Rodrigues’s reign, Brazil’s results collapsed and the CBF lost sponsors due to slipshod management. Leading Brazilian magazine Piaui exposed some of the malpractices. Rodrigues’s contract was declared null and void by the court because of a signature that may have been forged.
He was the latest in a long line of CBF presidents to depart the governing body in disgrace, starting with Ricardo Teixeira in 2012. Xaud therefore has a twofold task: he needs to clean up the image of the CBF and restore the standing of the national team, Brazil’s national symbol par excellence. The two go hand in hand.
“We implemented a new management style, with transparency and decentralization of power, where decisions are made not only by the president, but jointly with the other presidents, the board of directors, and technical directors,” Xaud told me on the morning of the Senegal match. “We have regained credibility because of all the changes we are making in Brazilian soccer.”
“For me, the CBF is the biggest soccer confederation in the world, and it’s where we have the best professionals working. So, when I arrived, I encountered this lack of autonomy for the professionals and a lack of transparency in CBF’s actions.”
Xaud, a physician specialized in sports medicine, hails from Roraima, a small and lightweight state federation. The 27 state federations hold the power at the CBF, but change may be afoot. The domestic landscape is transforming: a league body is under discussion, betting has been legalized, and clubs can organise as public limited companies, allowing foreign investment.
Vasco Da Gama and 777 have become a high-profile case of foreign investment gone bad. Xaud: “As long as there is serious, efficient management, it’s not just about receiving money and making the correct and necessary investments in soccer. I believe this stems from the administration itself, from independent governance. I see it in a positive light.”
After Covid-19, betting has exploded in Brazil, but Xaud emphasizes the benefits for Brazilian soccer: “This is a positive thing, because it brings resources to soccer, but at the same time it’s worrying because of the possibility of match-fixing. So I believe that this control needs to be more effective, closer, to avoid as much as possible that we have problems with the issue of match-fixing.”
Betano sponsors both the Serie A, Serie B, and the Brazilian Cup, all CBF competitions. Is it only a matter of time before a major betting operator sponsors the Seleçao? Xaud says that the CBF has not received any proposals.
It’s precisely the national team that constitutes Xaud’s main challenge. Brazilians have fallen out of love with the Seleçao. The World Cup qualifiers were torrid, with a 4-1 defeat against rival and current world champion Argentina and a run of matches that became the worst campaign ever. Brazil has not won the World Cup since 2002, when, spearheaded by Ronaldo, it prevailed in a 2-0 victory against Germany in the final in Japan.
It’s the longest dry run since Brazil won the first of its five titles in 1958. Superstar manager Carlo Ancelotti has been brought in to rebuild the Brazilian team. The Italian is the first foreigner to head Brazil.
“The national team is experiencing a new moment today with Ancelotti’s arrival, with this new management based on dialogue, closeness, and personal contact,” says Xaud. “So all of that has added up, and today we see a different atmosphere within the Brazilian national team, right? The players themselves feel it, the coaching staff feels it, and we are confident in the work we are doing. And Ancelotti is, because of his entire trajectory, his entire career, his entire résumé, a respected person. The players recognize this. So, no, there couldn’t be a better coach for the Brazilian national team today.”
Will not winning the World Cup be a failure? Xaud doesn’t think so, but he knows that after 24 years without winning the World Cup, victory will reestablish Brazil as the true ‘patria de chuteiras’ – the country in soccer boots.