Exclusive: Flamengo's Boto says foreigner cap weakens Brasileirão

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Coluna do Fla

·22 September 2026

Exclusive: Flamengo's Boto says foreigner cap weakens Brasileirão

José Boto spoke to Coluna do Fla about the CBF’s decision

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) decided last Monday (21) that the Brasileirão will gradually reduce the limit of foreign players over the next few seasons. On the losing side of the clubs’ vote, Flamengo is not happy with the decision. In an exclusive interview with reporter Mônica Alves from Coluna do Fla, Rubro-Negro football director José Boto lamented the decision and believes the measure will weaken the domestic league.

— As a foreigner working in Brazil, but who has also worked in other leagues, I’ll give my opinion, while obviously respecting those who carried out these studies. It doesn’t seem to me that this measure will help Brazilian football; on the contrary, it will make the league weaker, because players will continue to leave —, said Boto. — The best players will continue to go to Europe at a very young age, and since clubs won’t have the possibility of keeping those valuable players, they will have to play with less valuable players, and that will lower the quality of the Brazilian league —, added the Portuguese executive.

BOTO’S SUGGESTION

Still speaking with Coluna do Fla, Boto offered another suggestion to the CBF. Currently, a player cannot switch teams after playing 12 matches. In the executive’s view, this rule needs to end, as is the case in other leagues around the world.

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— I think there is one measure that really would make perfect sense: not limiting transfers between Brazilian clubs based on a number of matches played, because that is something that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world, and it causes money to leave what is the Brazilian football ecosystem —, Boto said.

— In other words, obviously, the big clubs can’t… they’re not going to sign players who haven’t played the 12 matches; they will want to sign the best players from other clubs. That did seem to me like the right measure for the Brazilian league —, he added.

PESSIMISTIC OUTLOOK

Finally, José Boto reiterated Flamengo’s respect for the CBF’s decision, but showed concern about the future and finances of Brazilian football. The executive stressed that the measure will not stop young players from leaving for Europe, nor will it strengthen the Brazilian National Team, which is one of the stated goals behind the decision.

— Although, obviously, I respect it, and we’ll see in a few years whether it produces results or not, to me, with the experience I have in football, it doesn’t seem like that will happen, because, as I said, the best Brazilian players will continue to leave very early, and the fact that you can’t use as many foreign players will not increase the quality of the Brazilian player who stays —, Boto concluded in his chat with Coluna do Fla.

WHAT DID THE CBF DECIDE?

Currently, teams can register nine players per match in the Brasileirão. The reduction will be gradual until 2030: eight in 2027, seven in 2028, six in 2029, and five in 2030. Flamengo, for example, currently has ten foreign players in its squad. Flamengo and Bahia were the only clubs to vote against the measure.

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