The 2025 season was the 116th season in the history of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista. The season covered the period from January 2025 to December 2025.
The season started earlier than usual and had a mid-season break due to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in June-July.
Background Melo's impeachment and the VaideBet case On 2 December 2024, an impeachment voting led by the president of the club's deliberative council Romeu Tuma Júnior was suspended by the common Justice. The voting was politically influenced by the opposition group Renovação e Transparência that led the club through six elections between 2007 and 2023, until their candidate lost to Melo. The impeachment complaint is primarily based on alleged irregularities in the contract with VaideBet, an online gambling company that was announced as the club's main sponsor in January 2024 (the biggest sponsorship contract for a football club in Brazil's history), which was rescinded five months later due to an anti-corruption clause, as there were concerns regarding an investigation due to a possible fake company that intermediated the deal between both parties. Involvement of members from both the club and the company are still being investigated since the fallout of the deal by the Civil Police (including Marcelo Mariano, a strong ally of Melo, who was a direct responsible for the negotiations with the company for the sponsorship). Melo was pressured throughout 2024 to removed Mariano from his position, but refused to do so. He stepped down on 16 January 2025.
On 20 January, a second meeting of the deliberative council to decide on the impeachment was held. The 240 members of the council that were present voted 126–114 to approve the admissibility of the dismissal process. However the meeting ended up suspended before a vote could be taken to decide whether or not Melo would be removed. The impeachment inquiry was treated as a coup d'état by the current presidency and the majority of supporters of the club since its inception due to the strong participation of the previous commanding group.
The following months saw Melo's presidency continue to fold, including multiple members of the club's board resigning (totalling more than 20 members leaving since the start of his term). On 22 May, Melo, Marcelo Mariano, Sérgio Moura (former marketing superintendent) and Alex Cassundé (owner of the company that acted as mediator between the VaideBet contract signing) were indicted by the Polícia Civil do Estado de São Paulo on breach of trust qualified theft, criminal association and money laundering. Despite an enormous pressure from other members of the club's board and the supporters (including the main torcidas organizadas), Melo announced that he would not resign and reinforced that he is innocent.
On 26 May, the first meeting regarding the impeachment was held. A total of 234 members of the council took part in the voting for Melo's temporary removal from the presidency, in which the decision was approved by a 176–57 (with 1 abstention). The first vice-president Osmar Stabile became the interim chairman of the club effective immediately. The next step will be a new voting held by the associates on 9 August. In case they do not approve the original decision, Melo will be reinstated. Should the impeachment be approved, a new election will be held featuring the counselors only.
On 31 May, Melo attempted a coup to regain his position as president through his allies after a change in the deliberative counsil command: the counselor Maria Angela de Souza Ocampos took charge of the counsil based on a decision by the ethics council of that organization, dated 9 April, which determined the removal of Tuma Júnior from the presidency of the council. Although the order was issued almost two months ago, it was only made official on Friday in a letter sent to the entity's secretariat by counselor Mário Mello, the rapporteur of the case. Melo, alongside his allies, went to Parque São Jorge, the club's registered office located in the district of Tatuapé, and demanded to take back his position, causing an argument in the president room. A few hours later, some fans invaded the room to confront Melo and the confusion ceased after the Military Police intervened.
The five biggest Corinthians' torcidas organizadas invaded and occupied Parque São Jorge on 3 June. They locked the main gates and demanded several estructural changes that they deemed inegotiable, including the Fiel Torcedor (the club's membership program) right to vote, changes to the club's statute and punishment to the responsibles for leaving major debts in their respective administrations. The invasion began during the afternoon and eventually dissipated during the night, as some supporters revealed that interim president Stabile promised to accept some of their demands, like major issues related to the club's youth squad. The statute reform though would require approvals of the Councils and even a general assembly. The protest was pacific and there were no aggressions or vandalisms.
On 10 July, the Public Prosecutor's Office of São Paulo denounced Melo, Mariano, Moura and Cassundé, alongside two other entrepreneurs for money laundering. The prosecutors also requested that the accused pay a total of R$40 million in indemnity to the club. Two weeks later, a judge accepted the report, meaning that all of them will become defendants in a criminal trial.
On 9 August, Melo's impeachment was approved by a 1413–620 voting. Stabile will remain the interim president until a new election will be held on a yet to be decided date. This time only counselors only lifetime or triennals counselors will be able to vote and run for the election. The new president will have a temporary term until December 2026, when Melo's original term was due. The club's new president is expected to be elected by the 299 counselors on 25 August. The candidates must either be a lifetime counselour or previously elected for the counsil at least twice.
Presidential election On 25 August, the election to decide Corinthians' new president for the remainder of the 2024–2026 term was held featuring a total of 264 counselors. Osmar Stabile was confirmed as the new president after receiving 199 votes. The other two candidates, Roque Citadini (lifetime counselor and former vice-president during Alberto Dualib's 2001-2004 term) and André Castro (counselor and former investments manager) received 50 and 14 votes, respectively.
Neo Química Arena's capacity increase and facial recognition system On 17 February, the club officially announced the Neo Química Arena's new capacity after the Polícia Militar authorized the increase of 1060 seats, pushing the stadium's total to 48,905. The increase was already in effect during the 12 February match against Santos, which saw the club reach its highest attendance at the stadium with a total of 48,169 supporters. The club broke the record once again during the Campeonato Paulista final against their biggest rival Palmeiras as 48,932 people attended the match.
On 13 July, the stadium had its first match with the mandatory facial recognition system for tickets. The Lei Geral do Esporte (Lei nº 14.597/2023) determined that such system would be obligatory for access in Brazilian football stadiums with a full capacity of more than 20 thousand people. The clubs had two years to implement the system, but Corinthians hadn't implemented until now. During the mid-season break, the club had a task force to make sure the system would be available for the first match in July, under possible punishment of playing with a reduced capacity. The new system will make sure that each ticket is now for personal use and non-transferable.
Kits Supplier: Nike / Main sponsor: Esportes da Sorte
+ Kits from the 2025 season
+ Kits from the 2024 season
Kit information This is Nike's 23rd year supplying Corinthians kit, having taken over from Topper at the beginning of the 2003 season. The deal was renewed for another 10 seasons on June.
Home: The club revealed their new home kit for the 2025 season on 26 April. The kit maintain Corinthians's traditional colours of black and white. The shirt has a white body and black sleeves with a black stripe on both sides, and is complemented by black shorts and white socks (with a black stripe on each). The new kit pays tribute to the 25th anniversary of the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship, as Timão's crest and Nike's logo are featured in the centre of the shirt, mirroring the same template used in the title win. Away: On 14 May, Corinthians released their away kit. It also pays tribute to the 25th anniversary of the 2000 world title and mirrors the home kit layout. The difference is the inversion of the black and white colors, but the main combination for the away kit remains all black. Third: On 24 September, Corinthians released their third kit. The kit is part of Nike bringing back the Total 90 era with new 25-26 third kits for their elite teams, featuring the classic T90 design. It showcases a retro-futuristic aesthetic with dynamic gradient patterns, angular fade graphics, and club-branding nods to the Nike Total 90 look of the mid-2000s, featuring a predominantly black design with orange logos and details, with a special T90 number on the front. GK: The new goalkeeper kits are based on Nike's goalkeeper template for the season, but also featuring the Corinthians and Nike logos centralized, with the club's crest being above the supplier's, as opposite to the players kits.
Kit usage
Kit Combination Usage Kits from the 2025 season Home White shirt with black sleeves, black shorts and white socks. Home alt.1 White shirt with black sleeves, black shorts (away kit) and white socks. Home alt.2 White shirt with black sleeves, white shorts and white socks. Home alt.3 White shirt with black sleeves, white shorts and black socks. Home alt.4 White shirt with black sleeves, black shorts and black socks. Away Black shirt with white sleeves, black shorts and black socks. Away alt.1 Black shirt with white sleeves, white shorts and black socks. Away alt.2 Black shirt with white sleeves, white shorts and white socks. Third Black shirt, black shorts and black socks; all details in orange Goalkeeper1 Yellow shirt, yellow shorts and yellow socks. Goalkeeper2 Black shirt, black shorts and black socks. Goalkeeper3 Orange shirt, orange shorts and orange socks. Kits from the 2024 season Home White shirt with fading black sleeves and bottom, black shorts and white socks. Home alt. White shirt with fading black sleeves and bottom, white shorts and white socks. Away Black shirt, black shorts and black socks. Away alt.1 Black shirt, white shorts and white socks. Away alt.2 Black shirt, white shorts and black socks. Third Black and white shirt, black and white shorts and black and white socks. Goalkeeper1 Yellow shirt, yellow shorts and yellow socks. Goalkeeper2 Blue shirt, blue shorts and blue socks. Goalkeeper3 Orange shirt, orange shorts and orange socks.
Squad
Squad number changes Notes: Squad numbers last updated on 28 February 2025. Player* – Player who joined Corinthians permanently or on loan during the season. Player† – Player who departed Corinthians permanently or on loan during the season.
Player Previous player to wear number Notes João Pedro DF — 47 Himself (2024) João Pedro returned from loan (January 2025) Rodrigo Garro MF 10 8 Charles (2025) Charles was re-allocated number 35 (February 2025) Charles MF 8 35 Léo Mana (2025) Mana was re-allocated number 33 (February 2025) Léo Mana† DF 35 33 Ruan Oliveira (2024) Ruan departed the club (December 2024) Memphis Depay FW 94 10 Rodrigo Garro (2025) Garro took the number 8 shirt (February 2025) Fabrizio Angileri* DF — 26 Guilherme Biro (2024) Biro left on loan (September 2024) Vitinho* FW — 29 Arthur Sousa (2024) Sousa departed the club (August 2024)
Managerial changes