Serie C club president digs at Bap: “Running Flamengo with R$2bn is easy” | OneFootball

Santa Cruz president Bruno Rodrigues cited Flamengo to defend the SAF

Santa Cruz, currently in the third tier of Brazilian football, is about to become a Sociedade Anônima do Futebol (SAF). One of the biggest supporters of the change in the football model is the club’s president, Bruno Rodrigues. To defend the idea, the executive even cited Flamengo and took a swipe at Luiz Eduardo Baptista, Bap, the Rubro-Negro chairman.

— I have always defended the SAF very strongly. I have always said: the only two clubs in Brazil, today, that sustain themselves are Flamengo and Palmeiras. That’s it. The other day, I was interviewed and they asked me: “look, Flamengo’s president won’t like that, because he said the club supports itself without SAF.” I respect that opinion, but running Flamengo with R$ 2 billion in revenue per year is easy. With all due respect — said Bruno Rodrigues in an interview with Rádio Jornal, from Pernambuco.

A traditional club from Pernambuco, Santa Cruz is close to becoming an SAF. American businessman Paraj Tyle is expected to take over the Arruda side. The executive is also one of the shareholders of the Portland Trail Blazers, an NBA team in the United States basketball league.

The group intends to invest R$ 1 billion over 15 years in Santa Cruz. The decision has already been ratified by the Deliberative Council and could be signed soon. “The SAF is very advanced. Obviously, I don’t even want to remember those problems we went through last year with the Minas Gerais group’s SAF, which was very bad for everyone. But now I think we got it right,” Bruno said, recalling failed attempts in previous years with other SAFs.

SANTA CRUZ COULD WIN PROMOTION

Part of the fourth division until last year, Santa Cruz is very close to returning to Série B. Leaders of the final four-team group in the third division, with nine points from three matches, the Pernambuco side needs at least one draw in the three remaining games to go up. The first opportunity will be this Saturday (26), against Floresta-CE, in Fortaleza.

BAP AGAINST SAF

In recent interviews, Bap has defended the full professionalization of management, modern processes, and corporate governance within the traditional club association structure. In this way, the Rubro-Negro chief rejects the idea of selling any percentage of Flamengo’s football operations. The current president was even more emphatic on the issue during Mengão’s presidential campaign at the end of 2024.

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