Vasco optimistic over Maracanã release for Boca Juniors clash | OneFootball

Vasco remains fully confident behind the scenes that it will confirm the Maracanã as the venue for the second leg of the Copa Sudamericana semifinal against Boca Juniors on October 20 at 9:30 p.m. The club’s board has formally submitted the proposal to the Fla-Flu Consortium and believes the diplomatic atmosphere is overwhelmingly favorable for a positive response, especially due to the cooperative stance adopted to make the event possible without creating scheduling conflicts in the capital of Rio de Janeiro.

The Cruz-Maltino’s main bargaining chip at the negotiating table was giving up its request to use the public stadium for the tie against Palmeiras, scheduled for November 8. By waiving the city’s biggest sporting venue for the Copa do Brasil and committing not to request any more dates until the end of the sports calendar, the Rio-based club’s management showed practical goodwill to eliminate any justification related to overuse of the facilities.

+ Vasco gives up on the Maracanã and confirms semifinal against Palmeiras at São Januário

Gesture of goodwill and capacity rules

The decision to host the Copa do Brasil semifinal at São Januário fully complies with the technical regulations of the CBF, which set a minimum capacity of only 15,000 seats at this decisive stage. By contrast, Conmebol’s strict rules require stadiums with at least 30,000 seats for continental semifinals, preventing Vasco from hosting the clash against the Buenos Aires club at its traditional home in Rio’s North Zone.

The first leg against the Argentines will take place at the historic La Bombonera stadium on October 13, requiring the Giant of the Hill to have its home venue defined in advance for ticket issuance and sales procedures. The club expects common sense to prevail among the parties involved, allowing the stands to be packed with fans pushing the players toward the major international final scheduled for Montevideo.

Negotiation with the consortium and focus on Vasco

Internally, Vasco believes it has met all the bureaucratic and technical requirements for the request to be approved without the need to turn to the courts. The football department is already working on logistical planning based on that expectation, keeping the squad led by Pedro Emanuel focused on on-field performance while the official release of the state-owned stadium is finalized.

With the registration of new players already regularized with the confederation for the knockout-round matches, the Rio club is seeking to maintain stability behind the scenes in order to focus on its pursuit of the Sudamericana trophy.

Vasco wants to play at the Maracanã – Photo: Matheus Lima

+ Follow Papo na Colina on social media: Threads, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Google News.

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