Vasco’s Maracanã access disputed amid Fla-Flu concession and 2025-26 agreement | OneFootball

The Maracanã dispute is dominating Rio football. According to Globo.com, Vasco have had three recent requests to use the stadium refused, the latest for a Copa Sudamericana semi-final against Boca Juniors.

The state tender won by Flamengo and Fluminense bars the concessionaire from favouring clubs and from unjustified, discriminatory or non-technical distinctions. It envisages equal access for official games when dates do not clash and level rent. The consortium argues a technical justification permits refusal, a position set out to the courts in August.

Nilton Santos differs, Botafogo’s deal with City Hall does not require sharing, while Maracanã is state-owned. In 2025, Vasco, Flamengo and Fluminense agreed all meetings between them from April 2025 to end-2026 would be at Maracanã, bar one Carioca semi leg moved to Nilton Santos on the day Flamengo hosted Madureira.

The memorandum also grants Vasco four additional games at Maracanã in each of 2025 and 2026, and says refusals must rest on technical and operational criteria within competition rules. Flamengo and Fluminense rejected Boca at Maracanã citing pitch wear, and say the memo is not binding because the consortium did not sign.

Last year the pact was invoked when Vasco considered São Januário for the Copa do Brasil semi-finals, and both legs stayed at Maracanã. In August, Vasco went to court to host Vitória in the quarter-final first leg, but the request was refused for a pitch-care week, lack of notice and NFL Rio Game preparations for 27 September.

Two days before Vasco’s 20 October semi, Fluminense play Santos at Maracanã, and two days after, Flamengo host Estudiantes there. In 2026, the ground staged games with gaps of up to 48 hours on nine occasions, including three in four days.

Source: Globo.com

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”