Ronaldo wants to become Brazil’s next football president. The football icon wants to bring “prestige” back to the country of the five-time world champion.
“People on the street are constantly begging me to play again”Ronaldo recently told the Brazilian internet portal Globoesporte – and brings the misery of the “Seleção“, the once so admired and revered Brazilian national team, to the point.
Since winning the 2002 World Cup, Brazil hasn’t won much in football other than three South American championships. The last two World Cup finals ended in the quarter-finals. Not to mention the historic 7-1 disgrace against Germany in 2014. And qualification for the 2026 World Cup is still a long way off.
A World Cup finals without Brazil? This has never happened before. Coach Dorival Junior’s team is only in fifth place in qualifying group A, having recently suffered a draw against arch-enemy Uruguay in November and previously against Venezuela.
Where to start as president?
The star of yesteryear will certainly no longer appear in the legendary yellow jersey and blue shorts. But he could give Brazilian football structure and stability again. But where should he start if he replaces incumbent Ednaldo Rodrigues in March 2026? Corruption, match-fixing, star players not scoring in the national team – these are just some of the problems that are currently weighing on the Brazilian football soul.
Ronaldo wants to go “extraordinary plans” travel around the country and convince the regional associations to vote for him. He still has a good year to do that. It will also be about his club investments, which he entered into as an investor after the end of his playing career in 2011. The restructuring of his hometown club Cruzeiro Belo Horizonte has worked well, and at Real Valladolid in Spain he is about to sell his shares after around three years of investment.
The search for the old system
Brazil’s football needs consistency. Coach Tite left the Seleção in 2022 after the World Cup. His successor Ramon Menezes was allowed to supervise three games, followed by Fernando Diniz in six. But his signing revealed the dilemma of Brazilian football in the 21st century.
Because Diniz wanted to let the previously successful system of “Brazilian street football” play – which earned him a lot of sympathy from the football-loving nation of Brazil. But the approach was not successful. One reason could be that the big Brazilian players like current FIFA best Vini Jr., Rodrygo and Neymar no longer really know what that is.
Vinicius Junior (l.) consoles Neymar after a defeat.
The footballing soul leaves the country with the talent
Compared to Europe (or Arabia), Brazil pays meager salaries on average. According to Deutschlandfunk, the first division professionals earn an average of no more than 1,500 euros per month. That’s three times as much as the average salary for Brazilians.
But it is obvious that the young talents will take the first flight to Europe they can get when it comes to football. But without match practice at home, Brazil’s footballing soul is traveling. The current national team squad only includes seven professionals who are under contract with South American clubs.
Rodrigues bankruptcy with Ancelotti’s signing
Ronaldo’s claim to lead the association could also be guided by the idea that the fish should be healthy from the head. The incumbent president Rodrigues recently distinguished himself by being able to hire none other than coaching legend Carlo Ancelotti as the successor to current coach Dorival Junior. But because “legal” problems arose, Rodrigues had to resign, and Ancelotti preferred to extend his contract with Real Madrid – and was named FIFA’s best coach there.
But because great turbulence then developed within the association, Rodrigues was brought back. The receipt could come in the missed World Cup qualification for the 2026 finals.
Brazil’s football president Ednaldo Rodrigues
prestige of the Brazilian Reclaim football
And then Ronaldo, as head of the once-glorious CBF association, would not only have to create new structures, but also rebuild an entire football nation that had fallen to the ground. A gigantic task, which Ronaldo himself describes as follows: “My goal is to regain the prestige of Brazilian football.“