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Flamengo name rivals and criticise CBF over pre-Copa round
Flamengo released an official statement this Saturday (23) regretting the fact that it will be shorthanded for the 18th round of the Brasileirão, the last before the tournament is paused for the World Cup.
The Rubro-Negro has already had four players called up to the Brazilian national team (Danilo, Léo Pereira, Alex Sandro and Paquetá). And it is likely to have five more called up: Varela, De La Cruz and Arrascaeta (Uruguay), Plata (Ecuador) and Carrascal (Colombia).
Arrascaeta is recovering from a fracture in his right collarbone, but has already been cleared to report to La Celeste. The expectation is that he could be available for a possible knockout stage of the World Cup.
All of them will already be with their respective national teams on the 30th, the date Flamengo will host Coritiba.
The statement also mentions Palmeiras, this Saturday’s opponent in the 17th round, which will also have absences.
Gustavo Gómez is a certain name on Paraguay’s list. Maurício and Sosa (recovering from injury) could be called up by the Albirroja. Arias will be called up by Colombia and Flaco López is an option to represent Argentina.
There was a suggestion that Fla x Coritiba should be played only on August 4, a date reserved for teams still alive in the Copa do Brasil.
"In a round-robin competition, where every matchweek carries the same weight in deciding the champion, there is neither fairness nor equality of conditions when a team is forced to take the field without several players, as is the case with Flamengo and Palmeiras, exclusively because those athletes were released to their national teams (four to Brazil)," says part of the statement.
According to Flamengo, there is a conflict of interest in the CBF’s "dilemma," since the entity organizes the Brasileirão and is also responsible for the Brazilian national team.
The text praises the progress made by the CBF, but also reinforces the need for the clubs to be responsible for the Brasileirão.
"The creation of an organized league in Brazil is more than urgent. The CBF is important in this process and must actively take part in this construction, but with the understanding that this is a movement led by the clubs. There are no easy solutions to complex problems, but the future requires an unavoidable change of course: the Brazilian Championship needs to be thought out and run from the perspective of the clubs, their players, their fans and their investors, and with a focus on strengthening the product itself," the Rio club stressed.
The 40 clubs from Série A and Série B will have another meeting with the CBF next Monday (25) to discuss the possible league. Suggestions made by them to improve football and strengthen domestic and international interest in the "product" will be debated.
Read the full statement
In the wake of the latest crossroads facing the 2026 Brazilian Championship, over whether or not to postpone the matches of the 18th round for teams that had a significant number of players called up for the FIFA World Cup, it is necessary to reflect: where are we going wrong and how are we going to solve these problems?
In this case, the mistake is very clear. In a round-robin competition, where every matchweek carries the same weight in deciding the champion, there is neither fairness nor equality of conditions when a team is forced to take the field without several players, as is the case with Flamengo and Palmeiras, exclusively because those athletes were released to their national teams (four to Brazil).
It is necessary to recognize the progress made by the current administration of the Brazilian Football Confederation, which, among other things, sought to optimize and adjust the calendar to remedy historic problems, as well as the importance of the World Cup to the CBF and to the country. But that is precisely where the dilemma lies. When the same entity is responsible for the Brazilian national team and the main domestic championship, someone ends up being harmed in this conflict of interest. In this case, once again, the clubs are the ones most harmed. A contrast in this scenario is UEFA, which stood up for its members and its competition and, together with FIFA, secured clearance so that the UEFA Champions League final could feature its stars on the pitch.
When teams are forced to play without their main players because of call-ups, the fans lose above all. Both those who pay for a ticket and those who follow the broadcasts. The quality of the spectacle is compromised, competitive integrity is affected, and the product is devalued, in addition to creating an upside-down logic: the teams that invest the most are precisely the ones most penalized.
In the past, stopgap solutions from the CBF sought to ease this recurring problem, such as making it impossible for a team to play if five of its players were called up. Another current example is that the Brasileirão does in fact stop during FIFA windows, but resumes only two days later. Flamengo has already had to charter aircraft to bring back players who played on a Tuesday night on another continent and then took the field less than 48 hours later.
These stopgap measures no longer match the reality of Brazilian football. As club investment increases, Brazilian teams are able to bring back players still at the peak of their physical condition, keep talents longer, structure multidisciplinary departments with top-level professionals, and invest more and more in training centers and infrastructure. Brazilian football has evolved, and the management of its competitions needs to evolve along with it.
The creation of an organized league in Brazil is more than urgent. The CBF is important in this process and must actively take part in this construction, but with the understanding that this is a movement led by the clubs. There are no easy solutions to complex problems, but the future requires an unavoidable change of course: the Brazilian Championship needs to be thought out and run from the perspective of the clubs, their players, their fans and their investors, and with a focus on strengthening the product itself.
Holding the attendance record at home and with away-section tickets sold out in 100% of its away matches so far, Clube de Regatas do Flamengo and its fans take the Brazilian Championship very seriously. That is precisely why the club regrets being forced to take the field shorthanded because of World Cup call-ups, even though the early eliminations of Flamengo and Coritiba from the Copa do Brasil would have made it possible to find a solution by playing on 4/8/26, without conflicting with the Copa do Brasil. Whoever is on the field will do everything possible to deliver a great spectacle, but it is undeniable that it is already compromised for the club’s more than 45 million passionate fans.
Photo: Gilvan de Souza/Flamengo
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in here.
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