sport Club Corinthians paulista

MessaGe FroM tHe
PrESIDENT
a NeW
COrINThIANS
OUR WORK IS TO MAKE THE TEAM HAVING THE MOST LOYAL FANS TO BE KNOWN
AS THE TEAM HAVING THE MOST ETHICAL AND PROFESSIONAL MANAGEMENT
WE ArE ONE OF ThE WOrLD’S grEATEST
FOOTBALL CLuBS. We have the most vibrant
fans in the Brazilian football. We won the first FIFA Club
World Cup. And, now, we want to become an example
of professional and ethical management, the only way
for the Brazilian football to progress in an increasingly
demanding and competitive market.
We undertook the renovation in the Corinthians’
management with a board of directors formed by
professionals who had never had managing positions at
the club. The criterion for selection was purely technical,
with no room for political arrangements. Renovation
was expanded into other administrative bodies, by
hiring professionals recruited in the market and the
establishment of indicators and performance goals.
Honoring the commitment with transparency,
we started the systematic publication of all material
information on the Corinthians’ life at the club’s
website. In our web portal, our stakeholders will
find from daily news on the football team to audited
financial statements. In addition, we adopted in
this report the methodology proposed by the Global
Reporting Initiative (GRI), as used by the world's leading
companies and organizations. We are the first club in
the world to publish a GRI sustainability report.
After years of poor administration, marred by
excesses and political arrangements, we approved an
innovative and democratic Statute, ensuring, among
other advancements, direct elections for president of
Corinthians, unprecedented in the Brazilian football, but
in tune with our historic commitment with democracy.
The results of the professional management are quite
visible already. After consecutive years of accumulated
deficit, we brought our accounts into surplus in 2008.
This is the most relevant point of our economic and
operational performance, resulting from hard work
to increase revenues and cut expenses. We came from
sport club corinthians paulista
6| sustainabilitY rEport 2008
a deficit of R$ 23.26 million at the end of 2007 into a
positive balance of R$ 10.87 million in 2008.
Gross revenues obtained with football reached R$
69.65 million in 2008, or 36.83% over the previous year.
At the same time, we reduced expenses significantly,
coming down from R$ 114.56 million in 2007 to R$
81.18 million in 2008 (down 29.13%).
In 2008, we fulfilled the obligation of winning the B
Series Brazilian Championship. And we are committed
to celebrate the Corinthians’ centennial, in 2010, in an
unforgettable fashion. A challenge for which we start
to prepare by signing Ronaldo, one of the top players in
the recent history of Brazilian and world football, and by
entering a sponsorship agreement with Batavo – Grupo
Perdigão, the largest in the Brazilian football.
For all this, when the ‘Fiel Torcida’ [Faithful Crowd]
is singing “Coringão is back”, they are not referring only
to the team that is back to the A Series. The return is
much wider. The ‘Coringão’ that is back is the victorious,
honored, glorious club we are all proud of, for which we
are all passionate. Corinthians is back!
ANDRéS NAVARRO SANCHEz
President, Sport Club Corinthians Paulista