The Paulista club stopped paying the compensation after rescinding, at the beginning of the year, the commercial contract that linked it to the betting house.
Brazil.- The São Paulo Court ordered the seizure of R$ 21.4m (USD 3.9m) from Corinthians' accounts for breach of an agreement signed with the betting house Pixbet, former sponsor of the club. In January of this year, the commercial agreement that linked the sports institution and the betting company was canceled after the team's directors chose to partner with VaideBet, in what represented the highest advertising contract for a Brazilian football club.
Thus, in February, the board of the "Timão" agreed to pay R$ 40.1m (USD 7.3m) to Pixbet, in addition to another R$ 4m (USD 700,000) in legal fees to the company's lawyers. However, according to the betting house, Corinthians only paid the first seven installments, equivalent to an advance of R$ 6m (USD 1.1m) plus six installments of R$ 3.1m (USD 500,000). As the club did not comply with the payment scheduled for September 16, Pixbet decided to go to court.
«At the time of the termination, we managed to seize the club's accounts and an agreement was signed between the parties. However, Corinthians stopped paying after the seventh payment, which led us to resume execution to collect the outstanding payments, in addition to penalties and legal fees», stated Nelson Wilians, legal representative of the betting house.
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The termination of the contract between both parties had already caused more than a short circuit at the beginning of the year. At that time, the president of Corinthians, Augusto Melo, had indicated that VaideBet would assume the responsibility for the economic compensation to Pixbet, but the executive's advisors clarified that there was a confusion and that a high amount must be paid as compensation for the termination of the commercial agreement.
