Under pressure, Cuca leaves Corinthians after two matches – 04/27/2023 – Sport

It lasted less than a week and two matches for Cuca to spend time at Corinthians. Faced with the renewed repercussions of the case of sexual violence registered in Switzerland in 1987, with the conviction of the man from Paraná, the board of directors of the Parque São Jorge club was forced to terminate his contract shortly after signing.

The announcement of the departure was made by the coach himself early this Thursday (27th), hours after the Alvinegro team advanced to the round of 16 of the Copa do Brasil, overcoming Remo, on penalties.

“I didn’t expect this avalanche,” he said. “I’m leaving at this moment, it’s not because I want to, but it’s a request from my family,” said the commander in a brief statement.

In his presentation, last Friday (21), under protests, the 59-year-old coach said he was innocent in the episode and claimed that the victim, a girl who was 13 at the time, did not recognize him as one of the aggressors. This Tuesday (25), however, the lawyer who represented her refuted this version.

“The girl recognized him as one of the rapists”, said the Swiss Willi Egloff to UOL. There, the pressure, which was already great around the alvinegro president, Duilio Monteiro Alves, and the coach himself, became unsustainable. In a note published at night, the association announced the end of the agreement. There was no set termination fine.

Alexi Stival, known as Cuca, faced enormous rejection from a large part of the Corinthians fans since the match. Even his identification with his arch-rival Palmeiras – the team for which the former player always said he supported and with which he was Brazilian champion – took a backseat to the episode 36 years ago, in Bern.

The case occurred when the then midfielder was 24 years old and had just arrived at Grêmio, who were on a tour of Europe. He, goalkeeper Eduardo, defender Henrique (who would later have a long spell at Corinthians) and striker Fernando were arrested at a hotel in Bern, accused of sexual violence against a girl.

Released at the end of the instruction phase of the process, they returned to Brazil. In the trial, concluded in 1989, Cuca was sentenced to 15 months in prison and paid US$ 8,000, the same sentence applied to Henrique and Eduardo. Fernando was considered only an accomplice to the act and sentenced to three months in prison, with a fine set at US$4,000.

Cuca did not go to Switzerland to defend himself or to serve the sentence stipulated for the crime, which he prescribed. The case had repercussions, but cooled down, it was not a major obstacle to Stival’s career as a midfielder and, until recently, it did not interfere with his career as a coach. It was only in recent years, in the wake of changes in society, that the episode has reappeared.

The coach, introduced while a group of around 200 supporters asked him to leave at the door of the alvinegro training center, said he was in line with these transformations. He stated that he wants a better world for his daughters and his wife. And he pleaded not guilty, pointing out that the victim had not recognized him as one of the criminals.

The interview with the lawyer who represented the girl and her family, however, ended up weakening the version exposed last week. Willi Egloff also recalled that forensic examinations showed traces of Cuca’s semen on the girl’s body, as reported at the time by the Bern newspaper Der Bund.

Duilio, then, decided to keep the alvinegro technical command at least until the important match this Wednesday (26), against Remo, for the Copa do Brasil. Defeated by 2-0 in the first leg, Corinthians returned the score at Neo Química Arena and advanced to the round of 16 after winning the penalty shootout.

The pressure, however, reached a level that made the possibility of him remaining at the club unfeasible and the coach himself stated that it was her initiative to leave Corinthians.