By Rodrigo Viga Gaier
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian coach Tite will keep his job even if Brazil lose the Copa America at home in June and July, the incoming president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) told Reuters on Thursday.
Tite's future "doesn't depend" on success for Brazil, said Rogerio Caboclo.
"There's no link between the two things. His contract is for four years and is to be served for four years. Even if we're not champions."
Tite took over as Brazil coach after they were knocked out the 2016 Copa America at the group stages and immediately turned their fortunes around, becoming the first team to qualify for the 2018 World Cup with a string of impressive performances.
However, they were disappointing in Russia and were eliminated by Belgium in the quarter-finals.
That exit led Brazilian media to speculate that anything less than a Copa America win on home soil would see the former Corinthians and Gremio coach depart one of the most high pressure positions in the soccer world.
Brazil were placed in Group A alongside Peru, Venezuela and Bolivia in Thursday's draw, a result that Caboclo said was kind to the host nation.
"The group is far from being a nightmare," said Caboclo, who takes over as CBF head in April.
"We need to play football."
(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier, writing by Andrew Downie; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)