Why Flamengo voted against reducing foreign-player slots and youth quota plan | OneFootball

Flamengo were one of two clubs to vote against a planned cut to foreign-player slots from 2027, after president Bap failed to get a related rule change discussed at Monday’s CBF meeting in Rio de Janeiro. According to Globo.com, he argued the club’s case and sought to add a proposal to ease the domestic transfer appearance cap.

When a smaller limit on foreign players was floated, Bap said clubs are pushed to look abroad for quality because the Brasileirão rule barring players who have made 12 appearances from moving within the league is too restrictive. He asked for a vote to relax that cap.

The CBF declined as it was not on the agenda. In response, Bap voted against both the foreigner reduction and the gradual expansion of youth lists, which would raise under-23 quotas. The confederation promised to assess his idea later.

Bap also criticised the top-down way the measures were introduced, with no prior notice to clubs. Another meeting is planned next month to continue talks.

Clubs can currently list up to nine foreign players per match. The approved plan reduces that to eight in 2027, then five by 2030, aiming to soften the impact on existing contracts. Bahia and Flamengo opposed the change.

Flamengo currently have 10 foreign players, namely Rossi, Varela, De la Cruz, Saúl, Pulgar, Arrascaeta, Plata, Valencia, Joaquín Freitas and Carrascal.

A separate change was passed to boost youth development. From next year, squads may register 50 players for the league, at least 20 of them under 23, moving by 2030 to an even split of 25 free-age and 25 under-23. Rationale cited included an average age of 28.5, higher than Spain at 27, France at 26 and Italy at 26.1, which is seen as harming performance.

Source: Globo.com

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