Maracanã row: Vasco sues Fla-Flu, seeks R$1m-a-day fine | OneFootball

​Vasco turned to the ordinary courts this Thursday (1st) by filing a lawsuit for specific performance with a request for urgent relief to have the semifinal of the Copa Sudamericana, against Boca Juniors, played on the Maracanã pitch. Faced with the continental requirement of 30,000 seats, which makes the use of São Januário unfeasible for the October 20 clash, the club’s legal department filed the case against the concessionaire FLA-FLU Serviços S.A. to force the opening of the gates of Rio de Janeiro’s biggest stadium.

​The initial filing highlights the extreme urgency of the case because Conmebol requires the official stadium designation by next Monday, October 5. In addition to pointing out the home ground’s lack of technical capacity for the semifinal stage, the lawyers attached a favorable opinion issued by the Military Police approving the match at the state-owned arena and argued for the validity of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2025, an instrument that guarantees the rental of the sports complex for international tournaments.

+ Vasco gets the green light from City Hall to face Boca at São Januário

?Court action and Vasco’s urgency

​Beyond the physical release of the stands, Vasco’s legal department requested that the managers guarantee all the technical, operational, and security conditions necessary for the event to take place without harming the fans who would fill São Januário. The court document challenges the pitch-preservation justifications presented by Flamengo and Fluminense, stressing that the current contractual agreement only allows vetoes based on strictly technical reports properly supported by expert analysis.

​With the aim of ensuring the immediate enforcement of the injunction, the request filed in the capital district set a daily fine of R$ 1 million in case of noncompliance by the concessionaire company. The coercive measure is intended to speed up the notification of the administrators of the public complex, preventing delaying tactics that could make television broadcasting and advance ticket sales unfeasible before the decisive clash scheduled for 9:30 p.m.

Court case lookup – Photo: Reproduction

?Daily fine and legal battle

​The drastic step taken by Vasco reflects the exhaustion of diplomatic efforts after the consortium formally refused to release the stadium for the third consecutive time this season, making it impossible to hold the event, which would not fit within São Januário’s structure. The board had already been preparing the legal filing behind the scenes and decided to go to court to preserve the club’s commercial rights and answer the calls of the millions of Vasco fans spread across the country.

​On the pitch, the team continues preparing for the first leg of the continental knockout tie scheduled for October 13 at the legendary La Bombonera in Buenos Aires. The squad is now awaiting the court’s ruling to find out whether it will decide the historic qualification in front of a record crowd at the city’s main stadium before seeking a place in the grand final scheduled for Barranquilla.

Vasco fans at the Maracanã – Photo: João Gabriel Alves/Vasco

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