Rio Court Halts Arbitral Ruling, Bars Eagle Bidco From Voting in Botafogo SAF

Overview

• The Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice suspended the FGV arbitration order, leaving Eagle Bidco without political rights in Botafogo’s SAF and blocking its vote at the May 14 extraordinary meeting.
• In a May 11 decision, the arbitration panel had restored Eagle’s political rights, suspended the July 2025 shareholders’ agreement, and froze all corporate acts since July 17, 2025 taken without the company.
• That arbitral ruling also deemed the April appointment of Durcesio Mello as interim director irregular and set a board vote to replace Jordan Elliott Fiksenbaum and Kevin Weston with Mandy Feldman and Ron Marx, named by Eagle.
• The arbitrators removed a special safeguard for John Textor’s statutory role, separating his personal status from the holding’s institutional rights within the club’s for‑profit company.
• The legal back‑and‑forth now clouds talks on new money and debt fixes, with options tied to funds like GDA Luma likely to turn on who holds voting power inside the SAF.