Financial Fair Play: Flamengo demand CBF ban artificial pitches

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·11 de noviembre de 2025

Financial Fair Play: Flamengo demand CBF ban artificial pitches

In contact with the CBF regarding the implementation of Financial Fair Play, Flamengo pointed out several suggestions

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), under the leadership of president Samir Xaud, is moving forward with the implementation of Financial Fair Play. Flamengo, a partner in this initiative, is assisting the organization and has made several suggestions. One of them concerns the use of artificial pitches.

“Plastic pitches must be immediately eliminated from all national professional tournaments. The discrepancy in maintenance costs between natural and artificial pitches creates financial imbalances among clubs and harms the physical health of players and athletes,” argued Flamengo in an official statement published this Monday (10).

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WHAT DOES THE CBF THINK ABOUT SYNTHETIC PITCHES?

Although Flamengo and the CBF are aligned on most ideas for implementing Financial Fair Play, the issue of artificial pitches is more complex. In a recent interview with former striker Romário, Samir Xaud did not take a side on the matter.

— This is a subject worth reflecting on. As a sports doctor, I have seen many injuries on synthetic pitches, partly because they don’t have the flexibility of natural grass. But there’s also the other side: athletes get injured on natural pitches as well. It’s a delicate issue that we are looking at carefully. We have started to discuss it internally, but it goes beyond the wishes of the president or the CBF; it has to be something discussed with the clubs — said Samir, in August.

WHAT DOES FLAMENGO THINK ABOUT THE ADVANCEMENT OF FINANCIAL FAIR PLAY?

In a video published by Flamengo, the club’s president, Luiz Eduardo Baptista, known as Bap, celebrated the CBF’s interest in implementing Financial Fair Play. Furthermore, the president highlighted that the obligation to be financially responsible is what helped European football evolve, for example.

WHAT ARE THE POINTS SUGGESTED BY FLAMENGO TO THE CBF?

• Treatment of clubs under RJ/REJ: prevent clubs from using the period of non-payment of debts (between the declaration of RJ/REJ and the approval of the agreement) as a competitive advantage, by blocking the registration of new players during this period and loss of points. • Broad definition of costs: control not only the “payroll” (CLT), but also the total squad cost, including image rights, signing bonuses, agent commissions, and taxes. • Blocking accounting loopholes: prevent the costs of men’s professional football from being “disguised” as investments in youth categories or women’s football through fictitious allocations. • Minimum cash control: implement leading indicators, such as the need for healthy working capital, to prevent liquidity crises. • Related-party transactions: disregard or limit transactions between related parties (e.g., club and company with the same owner) that could inflate revenues or hide costs. Capital injections, for example, should not be counted as recurring revenue. • Use of ratings: adopt a rating system (such as those used by specialized consultancies), in which clubs with better management (higher rating) have greater flexibility, creating an incentive for good governance. • Effective sanctions: focus sanctions on restricting transfer windows, and ensure these are fully enforced, even if the reason for the punishment is resolved, to discourage procrastination. • Implementation of the “Owners and Directors Test”: create an assessment composed of rules and criteria to determine whether new (or potential) owners and directors of a club are fit for the position. The goal is to protect the image and integrity of the competition and the clubs, ensuring that individuals managing or acquiring clubs are trustworthy and have proven financial capacity. • Effective Enforceability of the System: implement governance equipped to execute automatic punishments, based on factual and financial data, including the application of penalties and restrictions. • Prohibition of Artificial Pitches: plastic pitches must be immediately eliminated from all national professional tournaments. The discrepancy in maintenance costs between natural and artificial pitches creates financial imbalances among clubs and harms the physical health of players and athletes.

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