Fufuca takes office in Sport with boycott by Ana Moser – 09/13/2023 – Power

The Minister of Sports, André Fufuca (PP), rejected criticism that he does not dominate the area when he took office in a ceremony boycotted by his predecessor, former athlete Ana Moser.

“Don’t tell me that you don’t know the sports sector and that’s why I won’t be a good minister. What I don’t know, I will learn. So, say yes, that I know how Parliament works, the needs of our mayors for our municipalities”, said Fufuca.

Elected deputy for Maranhão, the new holder of the portfolio takes leave from his vacancy in the Chamber of Deputies to become the first minister of the PP in the Lula (PT) government. The predecessor, Ana Moser, took a flight to São Paulo in the early afternoon and did not transfer the position.

The former athlete did not hide her upset with her departure from the department, and made a point of asking that the decree of her dismissal not contain the expression that it was “at her own request”. The gesture aimed to make it clear that she was fired by the president to house the center. Now, the department’s teams work on the transition.

Despite this, Fufuca made a point of saying that he is a “fan” of the former minister and that he will seek to continue her work at the head of the department, in addition to nodding to Lula.

“I must say that only a few can be called characters greater than their time. One of them without a doubt is President Lula.”

The ceremony was attended by other authorities, such as the chief minister of the Institutional Relations Secretariat, Alexandre Padilha (PT), as well as the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino (PSB) and the head of Health, Nísia Trindade. Padilha was responsible for articulating the ministerial reform that opened space for the PP in the first echelon of government.

Dino is an ally of Fufuca in Maranhão. In the speech that opened the event, the head of Justice thanked the minister for his support in the state election and congratulated him on the new challenge.

The parliamentarian took office as minister in the morning in a small, closed ceremony at Palácio do Planalto, and was handed over his position in the late afternoon. The event received little prestige from the sector and was absent from a committee of athletes and former ministers from the department.

Instead, the event held at the Ministry of Sports was attended by several parliamentarians, especially those from the center.

The new minister even made a point of making a direct nod to the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), who headed, even behind the scenes, the negotiation for Fufuca’s entry into the position.

“I’ve seen that in recent days, with no way to disqualify me, many have made puns on my name. I must say, very calmly: it doesn’t affect me. On the contrary. I’m proud to be André Fufuca, that young man from Maranhão, who left the punished Northeast in search of ways to help the people”, he stated at the event.

Earlier, Fufuca said that Brazilian sport has “almost zero quality” and that he intends to bring about a revolution in the area.

The speech took place moments after he had officially taken office, in a closed and restricted ceremony in the office of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). Fufuca is one of the centrão nominees who were appointed during the government’s first major ministerial reform.