Cruzeiro makes Pedro Martins’ departure official and announces interim

Cruzeiro officially announced, this Thursday (25), the Pedro Martins’ departure from the position of football director. The statement was made on the club’s social media. Martins will soon be introduced at Vasco, where he will work directly with 777 Partnersanother Football Limited Society (SAF) in Brazil.

“Cruzeiro informs that Pedro Martins has accepted an invitation for a new professional challenge and is no longer the institution’s football director. We would like to thank you for all your professionalism, dedication and enthusiasm for the club’s objectives, and we would also like to take this opportunity to wish you much success in your journey. With Pedro’s departure, Paulo André takes on the role of football director on an interim basis”, says the note.

Pedro Martins’ replacement, at least on an interim basis, will be Paulo André. The former defender is one of Ronaldo’s trusted men and holds the position of strategy director at the Fenômeno sports holding company.

Pedro Martins has been at Cruzeiro since 2022, when Ronaldo took control of Sociedade Anônima de Futebol (SAF). He leaves Toca da Raposa to take up a vacant seat at Vasco.

The Rio club had been without a professional in charge since it had fired Alexandre Mattos, on March 21st.

Cruise wear

Pedro Martins was the constant target of fan protests. Since 2023, Cruzeiro residents, questioning the formation of the squad and sporting results at Cruzeiro, have asked for the football director to leave.

On the last international trip, when Cruzeiro went to Chile to face Unión La Calera, in the Copa Sudamericana, Pedro Martins was not with the delegation. CEO Gabriel Lima and communications director Victor Rios represented the board.

One of Martins’ last acts in charge of Cruzeiro football was the rehiring of coach Fernando Seabra. The former coach of the under-20 team, after leaving the club for Red Bull Bragantino, returned to Toca II to take on the role of coach of the main team.

In an interview in March, Pedro Martins explained the dismissal of coach Nicolás Larcamón and the return of Fernando Seabra to Cruzeiro’s technical command.

“We are happy with Seabra’s return. This return represents a reconnection with your identity, your method, your way of working. We believe that Seabra, in addition to the professional figure he built, represents everything that Cruzeiro has built in the last two and a half years. The fact of valuing the base and making the game collective were the main premises for making this decision”, said Pedro Martins, in his last press conference, on April 9th of this year.

Coincidence between Pedro Martins and Alexandre Mattos

Coincidentally, Pedro Martins will replace Alexandre Mattos for the second time. When he arrived at Cruzeiro, Martins occupied a position that belonged, exactly, to Mattos. At the time, Alexandre worked temporarily in the position at the request of Pedro Lourenço, the club’s investor.

At the end of 2021, shortly before the implementation of the SAF at the club, Alexandre Mattos began assembling the squad of players. However, when Ronaldo took over the administration of Cruzeiro, one of the Fenômeno’s decisions was not to use the professional in the celestial management organization chart.

Facts and controversies of the Pedro Martins era at Cruzeiro

January 5, 2022 – Cruzeiro announces the departure of idol Fábio from the club. The goalkeeper revealed that he accepted a salary reduction, but the SAF still preferred to end his time at Toca. With 976 games for the club, the idol could no longer complete 1,000 appearances with the celestial shirt before ending his career. On January 19, Fábio was announced as a reinforcement for Fluminense, where he would also become an idol and win the unprecedented Libertadores title with Tricolor in 2023.

April 2022 – Cruzeiro lost promising 16-year-old striker Vitor Roque to Athletico-PR. Due to lack of agreement between Pedro Martins and agent André Cury regarding the renewal of the player’s contract, Athletico Paranaense paid the termination fine of R$24 million and took away one of the jewels of Toca da Raposa II. In December 2023, Vitor Roque was traded by Furacão to Barcelona for R$394.8 million.

December 27, 2022 – Cruzeiro paid R$16 million for the acquisition of 50% of the economic rights of striker Wesley, from Palmeiras.

January 24, 2023 – Cruzeiro announces that, due to lack of agreement, it will not play for Mineirão in 2023. The club’s move to Independência brought down Cruzeiro’s previously promising 5-Star Partner program. The club came from the Series B title. Since then, the club went from having 72 thousand members to 45 thousand.

January 2023 – Cruzeiro’s board of directors keeps Paulo Pezzolano at Cruzeiro at the beginning of 2023, when he no longer wanted to stay at the club. Decision delayed planning for the Brazilian Championship with a new coach.

March 20, 2023 – After the departure of Paulo Pezzolano with the elimination in the semi-finals of the Campeonato Mineiro against América, Cruzeiro announced the hiring of Portuguese coach Pepa.

April 28, 2023 – After Ronaldo stated that Cruzeiro would not play for Mineirão in 2023, the club signed an agreement with Minas Arena to return to play for Gigante da Pampulha. The return would be on May 10, against Fluminense, in the fifth round of the Brasileirão.

August 29, 2023 – Cruzeiro’s football board fired coach Pepa. The Portuguese left the club quite surprised with the decision. Five months earlier, Pedro Martins had stated that the coach would have peace of mind to do long-term work.

September 5, 2023 – Also surprisingly, Cruzeiro hires Zé Ricardo to replace Pepa. Football management deconstructs the discourse of hiring coaches who value protagonist and offensive football.

November 12, 2023 – End of another conviction for Pedro Martins and the Cruzeiro football department. SAF fires coach Zé Ricardo after ten games in charge of Cruzeiro and amid the imminent risk of falling in the Brazilian Championship.

November 14, 2023 – Cruzeiro announced that technical director Paulo Autuori would lead the team in the last six rounds of the Brazilian Championship, with Fernando Seabra, from the Under-20s, as his assistant.

December 20, 2023 – Cruzeiro announces Nicolás Larcamón, ex-León-MEX, as new coach. SAF football director, Pedro Martins claims to be convinced that he would be the name to rescue Cruzeiro’s protagonist and offensive football project.

January 28, 2024 – After being runner-up in the São Paulo Junior Football Cup, Fernando Seabra says goodbye to Cruzeiro, where he was under-20 coach, to take over RB Bragantino II in Series A3 of the Campeonato Paulista.

April 7, 2024 – Cruzeiro loses the Campeonato Mineiro to Atlético in front of a packed Mineirão, with more than 61 fans.

April 8, 2024 – As reported by Itatiaia, Cruzeiro announces the dismissal of Argentine coach Nicolás Larcamón just over three months after his hiring. Another conviction of football director Pedro Martins and SAF falls apart.

April 9, 2024 – Cruzeiro announces Fernando Seabra as new coach and successor to Nicolás Larcamón. The coach begins his biggest challenge as a professional, as he had only managed Desportivo Brasil (2022) and RB Bragantino II (2024) in this category. Seabra’s career was all at the base.

On the same day, football director Pedro Martins gives an interview and says that they are now convinced that Seabra is the right name to implement the “method” desired by the SAF.

Martins also stated that the SAF had already decided to fire Nicolás Larcamón before the second leg of the Mineiro final, against Atlético. According to him, with or without a title, the Argentine would be dismissed for not agreeing with management in relation to the “work method”.

April 11, 2024 – Cruzeiro draws with Alianza from Colombia, 3-3, in their first home game in the Copa Sudamericana. The game marked the debut of Fernando Seabra. Fans booed the team a lot for the result. Ronaldo and football director Pedro Martins did not comment on the team’s moment.

April 13, 2024 – Goalkeeper Rafael Cabral trains at Toca da Raposa II, is on the team list for the game against Botafogo, but does not concentrate with his other teammates. One of the leaders of the squad, the starter would have received an offer to leave the club. Cruzeiro management remains silent amid the impasse.

April 14, 2024 – Rafael Cabral is even out of the lineup and off the bench in the game against Botafogo, for the debut of the Brazilian Championship, but Cruzeiro’s management does not issue any statement to clarify the goalkeeper’s situation.

April 18, 2024 – Cruzeiro announces the departure of goalkeeper Rafael Cabral to Grêmio, on loan until the end of 2024 and with an option to buy. In return, the club receives Grêmio goalkeeper Gabriel Grando, 24 years old, also on loan.

April 20, 2024 – Cruzeiro is beaten 3-0 by Atlético, at Arena MRV, in the third round of the Brazilian Championship. Pressure from the fans increases on Ronaldo, the football board and also on the new coach, Fernando Seabra. No one from management spoke up to talk about the team’s bad moment.

April 23, 2024 – Cruzeiro draws its third game in the Copa Sudamericana and is under threat. This time, it was 0-0 with Unión La Calera, in Concepción, Chile. The team is in third place in a weak bracket, with three points. Once again, no one from management is commenting on the team’s current situation.

April 25, 2024 – Amidst strong pressure at Cruzeiro, Pedro Martins abandons ship and joins Vasco to become the new executive director of Cruzmaltino’s SAF, managed by 777 Partners.

Career of Pedro Martins

Pedro Martins’ biography on LinkedIn, a corporate social network, points out that the professional has a degree in Administration with an MBA from the University of Liverpool-ING. Martins worked as football director at Ferroviária between 2017 and 2018, and in 2020.

The executive was also manager of the information department at Athletico-PR, between 2013 and 2017. He also served as vice-president of the São Paulo Football Federation before signing a deal with Cruzeiro.

Announced by Cruzeiro on January 3, 2022, Pedro Martins had a troubled spell at the club. Between mistakes and successes, they weighed in on the way out constant changes of coacheshirings that didn’t work out and the lack of stability of the sports projectespecially this season.