If the rule of law matters in Brazil, this theft will never happen. If BFR social, or the Botafoguenses, ever expect to be respected again in the capital markets, this will never happen. I am still the owner of the 90% interest, as all material terms of our investment agreement were honored…and we did deliver Botafogo’s best year in 120 years, much more than promised. I expect this shameful chapter in the history of our club will be over soon, and will be chasing titles again.

Anatomy of Theft: How does a 10% local shareholder steal a company from a 90% foreign investor, with an endorsement from the judiciary?   1. Hire Salomão, Fux and Basílio Advogados in Rio de Janeiro.   2. Unilaterally declare that you are the 51% majority shareholder.   3. Ask a local judge to suspend (block) the voting rights of the 90% foreign shareholder, just days before a landmark vote.   4. Call for a Shareholder vote, knowing that you are the only party allowed to vote.   5. Vote to steal your partner’s interests.   6. Rest easy because Salomão, Fux and Basílio are above the law.   7. Then tell your Social Club friends at other Brazilian clubs to rest easy, because they will never again be bothered by foreign investors choosing to invest in Brazil.   The lesson, if this behavior holds:  Local interests prevail in Rio, if you hire the right law firms…the local partner that invites you to invest can find a judge, block your vote, then vote to destroy your interests…and if you open your mouth, or so much as hire a lawyer and make honest filings to defend your rights, a local judge will punish you with heavy fines.   Judicial tyranny and intimidation happens in very few places in the world, and I am profoundly upset to learn that it happens in Rio de Janeiro, where I was so proud to have become an honorary citizen.   Justice Torres, I feel confident that you will come to regret the decisions you made today. Whether you were misled by my former friends and lawyers, or whether you didn’t understand our case because the courthouse loitering privileges of Salomão, Fux and Basílio meant that you only heard one side, I would ask you to consider the greater impacts of your decision. It is never too late to make the right decision.   I was invited to come here, invest in your beautiful country, and showcase Brazilian football for the world. What idiot would dare follow me to invest in Brazil, after today?   As you still have the right to re-consider, the SAF Law, and the future of foreign investment in your beloved country, rest on your shoulders.   You stretched the law in so many directions as if to have become an advocate for a litigant, granting an unconscionable dream scenario to a minority owner that was looking to achieve an impossible theft of the majority owners interests.     The request to block the vote of a shareholder, for no other purpose than to destroy the interests of that shareholder, would not have been granted in most civilized countries in the world…yet you made that possible today, it’s an alarming precedented that will have impacts that go far beyond football.   You still have an opportunity to stand on the right side of history…you should take it, and send a message that Brazil is still open for business.