Bombshell behind the scenes: Vasco SAF sale could slip to 2027

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Papo na Colina

·17 July 2026

Bombshell behind the scenes: Vasco SAF sale could slip to 2027

The completion of the sale of 90% of Vasco SAF's shares to investor Marcos Lamacchia is at serious risk of not happening in 2026. The bombshell information was revealed by journalists on the ge Vasco podcast, confirming that the procedures of the judicial auction in the 4th Business Court of Rio de Janeiro and the slow approval of the association’s procedures will drag the outcome of the deal into the first half of next year.

Even though the notice initially set the transition deadline for September, the schedule was extended due to the need for opinions from the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the creditors’ meeting of the Judicial Recovery process. The board will need to manage finances with extreme caution, since the club spends R$ 800 million per year and brings in R$ 500 million, generating a chronic deficit of R$ 300 million that will need to be sustained without the immediate injection of billions from Almirante Participações, the company created by Lamacchia for the deal.

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+ With his father’s approval and detailed accounts: How does Marcos Lamacchia’s purchase of Vasco’s SAF work?

What about the reinforcements?

To keep professional football going and bring in reinforcements for the fight against relegation in the Brazilian Championship without the billionaire’s immediate investment, the market plan is focused on loans with an obligation to buy in installments in the future.

This strategy was adopted directly in the drawn-out email exchange with Real Betis to bring in Colombian defensive midfielder Deossa, whose financial commitments in dollars will be pushed to the coming seasons, when the funds from Almirante Participações are released into Vasco SAF.

In a detailed report on the program, journalist Raphael Zarko shared what was said directly by lawyer André Sica, Lamacchia’s representative, about the reasons preventing the contract deal from being finalized in 2026:

“He says he thinks the process just won’t be concluded this year, and to justify why the operation should not be completed this year, there is this whole issue of concluding the negotiation and the auction process there, then there is the whole issue involving the regulatory agency and everything else, and finally there is the whole issue of the Vasco assembly and councils needing to approve it. There is now that process of finalizing the investment agreement, it is signed, it is not an MOU as everyone said it was, a memorandum of understanding, it is an investment agreement with conditions, which are going through the recovery process, approval of the judicial recovery, and going through Vasco’s internal procedures.”

The Blind Trust barrier and contractual financial targets

The report also detailed that the buying group is fully aware of the obstacles being imposed by Vasco’s rivals and creditors in the market. According to information obtained from Marcos Lamacchia’s legal representative, the financial plan provides that the investor will take on the contractual commitment to cover the operational shortfall in the first five years of management, inheriting a billion-real tax and civil liability in the civil courts, in addition to allocating R$ 500 million exclusively for player signings and R$ 120 million for the Cruz-Maltino training center.

The statements obtained in an exclusive interview with lawyer André Sica show Lamacchia’s safeguards to strictly comply with the requirements and ensure approval by the CBF regulatory agency:

“He will do everything, he will strictly follow the entire schedule against conflict of interest. He says that neither the regulatory agency nor the issue with 777 is really a concern for the negotiation. About the possible conflict of interest, anyway, those accusations even from Flamengo and BAP, he says that first the negotiation has to be completed, then they will see whether there is this conflict of interest. If this conflict of interest is proven by the regulatory agency and so on, it will only last a year and a half, so that is why it does not cause concern for them, because this conflict would only last that long and Vasco during this period would do whatever is necessary with the CBF or the agency to resolve this issue.”

Marcos Lamacchia is not afraid of moves by rivals and creditors – Photo: Reproduction

The ghost of 777 Partners and the backroom deal

The corporate issues with the former owner of Rio football were also dissected at the debate table as a factor in the delay. The revelation is that the American holding company has a gigantic liability that makes the values set in the previous contract unworkable, forcing a judicial renegotiation outside the court’s direct handling, so that the shareholding control only changes hands after the full payment of Vasco SAF’s creditors.

Beat reporter Bruno Murito added to the discussion by detailing how Vasco’s board intends to arrange the definitive exit of the former foreign partners:

“On the 777 issue, he says that Vasco will resolve it through a negotiation between Vasco and 777, or through a negotiation by other professionals hired by Marcos, or even by the courts themselves, so in any of those three ways the 777 problem will be resolved. And they think that value is no longer there because they bought for 310 but created a huge debt of, I don’t know, 1 billion, so this negotiation will possibly involve a settlement for a lower amount.”

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This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.