"Libra backs Palmeiras, says Bap as Flamengo left out of key decisions"

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Coluna do Fla

·15 octobre 2025

"Libra backs Palmeiras, says Bap as Flamengo left out of key decisions"

Bap refuted claims that Flamengo is selfish and pointed to a possible conflict of interest within Libra

In summary, the dispute between Flamengo and Libra has been getting increasingly heated. Especially after the red-and-black club took legal action to block part of the TV rights money (R$ 77 million) from the teams in the bloc. In an interview with Uol, Flamengo’s president, Bap, stated that Libra is ‘Palmeiras-oriented’.

First of all, journalist Rodrigo Mattos from Uol mentioned the mediation agreement proposal made by Libra’s lawyer, André Sica. However, Bap stated that the professional also represents Palmeiras and currently works for other clubs participating in the bloc.

Vidéos OneFootball

What did Bap say?

Sica is Palmeiras’ lawyer. His family has worked for Palmeiras for a long time, and the law firm that filed the appeal from Libra against Flamengo is Sica’s firm. This is an obvious conflict. If I could go back in time, I would never have agreed to the creation of Libra. Libra is green. Libra is all green. Libra is Palmeiras-oriented. Sica is Palmeiras’ lawyer. He became the lawyer for other clubs. He represents other clubs that are in Libra.

In addition to pointing out the conflict of interest on the part of Libra’s lawyer, who also represents Palmeiras, Bap disagreed with claims that Flamengo is selfish. In short, the Flamengo president countered the criticism and said that the red-and-black club is actually excluded from decisions.

I see this much more as an external narrative than as reality. This league discussion has been going on for some time. It started with the former president (Rodolfo Landim) here. I was involved with him when it started. I took part in the concept, the idea of discussing football more, because it’s very common to see club directors arguing and complaining about the regulations, refereeing, the player call-up process, the FIFA Date windows. This happened before the discussion and conception of Libra and Liga Forte. In these ten months that I’ve been in contact with the Libra people, there hasn’t been a single meeting where any topic about Brazilian football was discussed. Flamengo asked to participate in the integration committee with Liga Forte and Palmeiras and São Paulo voted against it. So, when you think about merging Libra and Liga Forte, and you see clubs that are supposedly your partners believing that Flamengo cannot, or should not, or they don’t want it to participate in a committee to unite the leagues. Who is selfish? Who is exclusionary? In reality, it’s the other clubs that are excluding Flamengo. Flamengo has never refused to discuss or participate in absolutely anything.

What are the details of the dispute?

To better understand the dispute between Flamengo and Libra, it’s important to know that, in the contract with Rede Globo (2025–2029), the amounts are divided into three parts.

40% equally
30% by performance
30% by audience

Meanwhile, Flamengo questions the formula used to distribute the audience share (especially in pay-per-view). That’s because, in Bap’s view, the current model underestimates the “generativity” of the red-and-black fan base.

Furthermore, Flamengo says that Libra’s statute requires unanimity to change this criterion, and claims that its “veto” was not respected in internal meetings. Thus, after failing to convince the other clubs, the Red-and-Black took the matter to court.

What happened after that?

The court issued an injunction requiring Rede Globo to deposit R$ 77 million in escrow, blocking the normal transfer of this amount to Libra until the disputes are resolved. This means that, until the court has a final decision, the amount will be withheld.

What did Libra say?

Libra stated that it repudiates the measure, calling it “unilateral and sudden”. In addition, it claims that Flamengo’s action harms the clubs that depend on such payments to pay salaries and maintain cash flow.

In fact, several member clubs of Libra have already issued statements condemning Flamengo’s attitude. That’s because rival teams accuse Flamengo of being “arrogant” and lacking a spirit of cooperation. Finally, these teams are seeking the exclusion of the Red-and-Black club from the bloc.

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