Flora family announce Corinthians wonderkid's exit, swipe at club | OneFootball

Corinthians have lost one of the most high-profile names in their youth ranks, as 12-year-old player Lucas Flora is leaving the Alvinegro.

Through a letter sent to ESPN, the young player’s father, Flávio Flora, explains that the decision comes after strain involving issues such as lack of playing opportunities and internal uncertainties, which were seen as neglect. The report explains that the club was notified of the athlete’s parents’ decision regarding his departure.

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In the document, Flávio states that young Flora was not registered for any of the club’s youth competitions in 2026, including the Campeonato Paulista. The family says they were informed internally that the failure to register him was due to administrative mistakes and communication problems in the management of youth academy documentation.

However, they claim that the club publicly presented a different justification, making the player’s registration conditional on waiving the current image rights contract in order to sign a training contract.

Below, read in full the letter prepared by Lucas Flora’s family:

“We remained silent throughout this entire period out of respect for our son and also for the moment the club is going through. However, given the countless questions from the fans and the circulation of information that does not reflect the reality of the facts, we believe it is necessary to clarify the situation with transparency and respect.

In 2026, Flora was not called up for any competition in his age group and was also not registered for the Campeonato Paulista, the country’s main youth tournament, in any of the club’s categories.

In addition, we found that since December of last year, the athlete has had no active registration with the CBF and the São Paulo Football Federation through Corinthians. Even though all the documentation was submitted on time, the player’s registration was not renewed, leaving him without a formal sporting link to the club.

In a meeting, we were informed that the lack of registration had occurred due to internal failures and communication problems involving those responsible for youth academy documentation.

Publicly, however, a different version was presented: that the athlete would only be registered if the family gave up the current image rights contract and then signed a training contract, under the claim that the club would not be able to honor the previous agreement.

It is important to clarify that there was already an understanding between the parties that any discussions involving a training contract or financial matters would only take place when Flora turned 14, in 2028, and not now, at 12 years of age.

It is also not true that the family demanded the player’s participation in shirt launch campaigns. Even because the image rights contract was offered by the club itself, which saw potential in using the player’s image, who is also sponsored by the same sportswear supplier as Corinthians.

Even in the face of the lack of registration and the difficulties encountered in the process, the family upheld all its commitments, taking Flora daily to training and the club’s other activities, always believing in the development process and in their son’s dream.

Throughout these years, we have always prioritized our son’s wishes and choices, setting aside other possibilities that could have been more advantageous for his career. Even so, the club has once again made mistakes in his development process.

We cannot allow such an important period in a child’s life to be lost amid errors that keep being repeated.

Before being a Corinthians player, Flora needs to have his right to be a football player guaranteed. And today, unfortunately, that right has been compromised by the lack of the minimum conditions necessary for him to do what he loves most: play football.

We hope those responsible become more aware of the impact of situations like this, which not only affect the dreams of children and families, but also undermine the development of potential assets for the club itself.

We know that, given Corinthians’ stature, any statement or justification from those responsible will naturally carry more weight than the word of a family. Even so, we believe it is important to clarify the facts with respect and honesty.

We also sincerely hope that the family’s decision to continue, up to this point, without agents managing Flora’s career has not influenced, in any way, how this situation was handled.

It was six years of honoring this shirt with pride. Unfortunately, this story did not follow the path our little boy dreamed of, but we still believe that life may yet hold new paths and new opportunities in the future. Who knows!

Regardless of this whole situation, we are grateful to Corinthians as an institution, to its history, and to its faithful fan base of millions of passionate supporters, like us, whom the club represents. We continue to hope it overcomes this moment and returns to better days, because Corinthians will always belong to the people.

No one is bigger than the club. Just as no one is bigger than a father’s and a mother’s love for their child.

We love you, Flora. Everything will work out”.

Almost left

In 2024, Lucas nearly left Corinthians and was even linked with rivals Palmeiras. After a turnaround, however, the boy stayed with the team he had represented since 2021.

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