Flora family confirm Corinthians gem's exit, take a swipe at club | OneFootball

Corinthians has lost one of its most high-profile names in the youth ranks: 12-year-old player Lucas Flora is leaving the club.

In a letter sent to ESPN, the young player’s father, Flávio Flora, explains that the decision comes after tensions involving issues such as lack of playing time and internal uncertainties, which were seen as neglect. The report states that the club was notified of the parents’ decision regarding the athlete’s departure.

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In the document, Flávio says that the young athlete Flora was not registered for any of the club’s youth competitions in 2026, including the Campeonato Paulista. The family claims they were informed internally that the lack of registration happened due to administrative failures and communication problems in managing youth team documentation. However, they allege that the club publicly presented a different justification, making the player’s registration conditional on giving up the existing image rights contract in order to sign a training contract.

Below, read the full letter prepared by Lucas Flora’s family:

“We remained silent throughout this entire period out of respect for our son and also for the moment the club is going through. However, given the countless questions from the fans and the circulation of information that does not reflect the reality of the facts, we believe it is necessary to clarify the situation with transparency and respect.

In 2026, Flora was not selected for any competition in his age group and was also not registered for the Campeonato Paulista, the main youth tournament in the country, in any of the club’s categories.

In addition, we found that since December of last year, the athlete has had no active registration with the CBF and the Federação Paulista de Futebol through Corinthians. Even though all documentation was submitted on time, the athlete’s registration was not renewed, leaving him without a formal sporting link to the club.

In a meeting, we were informed that the absence of registration had occurred due to internal failures and communication problems involving those responsible for youth team documentation.

Publicly, however, a different version was presented: that the athlete would only be registered if the family gave up the current image rights contract and then signed a training contract, under the claim that the club would not be able to fulfill the previous agreement.

It is important to clarify that there was already an understanding between the parties that any discussions involving a training contract or financial matters would only take place when Flora turned 14, in 2028, and not now, at 12 years old.

It is also not true that the family demanded the athlete’s participation in shirt launch campaigns. Even because the image rights contract was offered by the club itself, which saw potential in using the athlete’s image, who is also sponsored by the same sporting goods supplier as Corinthians.

Even in the face of the lack of registration and the difficulties encountered in the process, the family kept all of its commitments, taking Flora daily to training and the club’s other activities, always believing in the development process and in their son’s dream.

Throughout these years, we have always prioritized our son’s wishes and choices, setting aside other possibilities that could have been more advantageous for his career. Even so, the club has once again made mistakes in his development process.

We cannot allow such an important period in a child’s life to be lost amid repeated errors.

Before being a Corinthians player, Flora needs to have his right to be a football player guaranteed. And today, unfortunately, that right has been compromised by the absence of the minimum conditions necessary for him to do what he loves most: play football.

We hope those responsible become more aware of the impact of situations like this, which not only affect the dreams of children and families, but also compromise the development of possible assets for the club itself.

We know that, given the stature of Corinthians, any statement or justification from those responsible will naturally carry more weight than the word of a family. Even so, we believe it is important to clarify the facts with respect and honesty.

We also sincerely hope that the family’s decision to continue, up to this point, without agents managing Flora’s career has not influenced, in any way, the handling of this situation.

It was six years honoring this shirt with pride. Unfortunately, this story did not follow the path our little boy dreamed of, but we still believe that life may hold new paths and new opportunities in the future. Who knows!

Regardless of this entire situation, we are grateful to Corinthians as an institution, to its history, and to its faithful crowd of millions of passionate supporters, like us, whom the club represents. We continue to hope that it overcomes this moment and returns to better days, because Corinthians will always be the people’s heritage.

No one is bigger than the club. Just as no one is bigger than a father’s and a mother’s love for their child.

We love you, Flora. Everything will be alright.”

Almost left

In 2024, Lucas almost left Corinthians and was even linked with rival Palmeiras. After a turnaround, however, the boy remained with the team he had represented since 2021.

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