Members revolt and call for Flamengo vice-president's removal | OneFootball

Groups call for Marcos Motta’s removal

Seven political groups within Flamengo have filed a formal complaint against Vice President of Administration Marcos Motta. The members claim that the executive’s professional activities could create a conflict of interest with the duties he performs within the club.

The document was delivered to Flamengo’s secretariat, at Gávea, on August 20. In addition, the request was forwarded to president Luiz Eduardo Baptista, known as Bap, the president of the Deliberative Council, Ricardo Lomba, and the president of the General Assembly, Gustavo Fernandes.

WHAT ARE THE MEMBERS QUESTIONING?

The complaint cites activities carried out by the law firm Bichara e Motta Advogados, of which Marcos Motta is a member. Among the examples presented are the firm’s participation in the implementation of Santos’ SAF and the negotiation involving defensive midfielder Zé Lucas, who left Sport to play for Cruzeiro.

According to the groups, Motta’s position within Flamengo’s administrative structure allows the lawyer to have access to information considered strategic. As a result, the members have expressed concern about access to data on the club’s budget, salaries, financial limits, and negotiations. The statement argues that this situation could place Rubro-Negro at a disadvantage compared to other teams. In the document, the authors state:

“The simultaneous exercise of top-level positions at Flamengo and technical consulting in SAFs, as well as frontline player negotiations for other clubs, coaches, and players, creates an extremely serious and unacceptable conflict of interest.” In addition, those responsible for the complaint say that Motta would have access to confidential information precisely because he holds positions in Flamengo’s board and councils.

WHO SIGNED THE REQUEST?

The initiative brings together seven political groups within Flamengo: Flafut, NossoFLA, PróFla, Sempre Flamengo, Sinergia, Vanguarda, and Vencer. Therefore, the complaint did not come from just one political faction within the club.

The groups are asking Marcos Motta to provide clarification about the business ties he maintains with other teams. They are also requesting access to the contracts related to the professional activities mentioned in the complaint.

At the same time, the members are requesting a preventive suspension of up to 60 days. The request is based on Article 59 of Flamengo’s bylaws and calls for Motta’s temporary removal from his duties until a final decision on the case is made.

WHY WAS RODOLFO LANDIM MENTIONED?

The complaint also draws a comparison with the case of Rodolfo Landim. The groups recall that the former president was barred after the reform of the club’s bylaws carried out during Bap’s administration.

In the authors’ view, Flamengo needs to apply the same interpretation to the current Vice President of Administration. To support this argument, they cited a statement made by Bap during the discussion of the changes to the bylaws:

“The president of the Executive Board himself, Luiz Eduardo Baptista (Bap), during the session that changed the bylaws to expand the grounds for disqualification, was categorical. According to what he said, there must be ‘exclusive dedication to Flamengo.’ Therefore, Marcos Motta cannot remain in management and on the councils. There is no way to go after Rodolfo Landim and ignore Marcos Motta. It is a double standard. (…) The law and associational integrity do not allow for the selective application of rules.”

Thus, the groups believe that the same rule used to remove Landim should also apply to Motta. The complaint therefore questions a possible difference in treatment between the two cases.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

The request still needs to be reviewed by Flamengo’s competent bodies. In the meantime, the members are awaiting a decision on the preventive suspension and the requested clarifications. Up to the publication of the original report, Marcos Motta and Flamengo’s board had not responded to questions from Coluna do Fla.

In addition, the episode comes amid a period of intense political activity behind the scenes at Gávea. Recently, council members also made demands after the disclosure of a R$ 33 million deficit in the first half of the year.

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