Caio Resende warns Brazilian clubs are fragile as CBF plans financial fair play | OneFootball

The CBF plans to introduce financial fair play in Brazil, but economist Caio Resende, president of ANRESF, warns that many clubs are sinking under debt despite a recent boom in income.

“It is very worrying. Brazilian football has had a boom in revenue over the past two years. Club revenues grew 35%. Few sectors of the economy grow like Brazilian football,” he told Globo.

“What would you expect? Financially stronger clubs. What happened? Spending increased 40%. More than that, investment in signings rose 140%. Clubs’ debts on transfers more than doubled in two years.”

Overall club debt climbed from R$ 7.8 billion in 2022 to almost R$ 14 billion within two years. While revenues rose 35%, indebtedness increased by nearly 80%.

“Even with all this revenue flowing into the game, we have never had clubs so financially fragile. With data up to 2024, the trend is that the situation could be even worse in 2025.”

This helps explain opposition to the controls, which stop teams spending more than they generate and can bring penalties such as points deductions in the Liga Nacional or even relegation.

Flamengo’s picture is different. For 2025 the club declared gross revenue of R$ 2.089 billion and debt of R$ 174 million, and it has backed financial fair play from the outset. Flamengo and Palmeiras therefore have less to worry about than most.

Source: Coluna Do Fla