The proposed site for Flamengo’s new stadium
Featured image credit: Rio City Hall
Campeonato Brasileiro Série A football club Flamengo is set to formally secure the package of land it has identified for a new 80,000-seat stadium after financial services group Caixa Econômica Federal agreed to drop its legal action over the sale of the site.
Flamengo last month took a major step towards building a new stadium after purchasing the package of land in Rio de Janeiro. The site formerly housed the São Cristóvão Gasômetro and has been managed by Caixa since 2009. Flamengo first expressed an interest in taking over the 86,000-square-metre site back in 2022.
Earlier, the club’s Deliberative Council approved its proposal to take part in an auction held on July 31. The 7th Federal Court of Rio de Janeiro later suspended the auction before allowing it to take place.
Flamengo was the only party to submit an offer and agreed to acquire the land for a fee of R$138.195m (£18.63m/€22.15m/$24.55m). Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes approved Flamengo’s bid and the club will be required to present a final project within 18 months of signing the purchase and sale agreement.
However, the matter has since been complicated after Caixa filed a legal claim in Federal Court questioning the fee agreed for the sale of the land, which was expropriated by the City of Rio de Janeiro in June.
A meeting was held yesterday (Thursday) involving several senior officials, including the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Paes and Caixa president, Carlos Vieira. According to Globo, this led to Caixa agreeing to withdraw its legal claim over the land sale. Flamengo last week agreed to pay a further R$7.8m for the site to comply with an adjustment determined by an expert assessment.
The club is now said to be hoping that by next week, the process to take possession of the land will be finalised. Following the closure of the agreement, Paes took to X to praise the action taken to resolve the deadlock, stating “there is nothing that benefits Rio and its causes that President @LulaOficial can’t resolve.”
Flamengo is seeking to build an 80,000-seat stadium at Gasômetro but has faced obstacles in recent years as negotiations with Caixa did not progress. However, Paes, who is a fan of Flamengo’s rivals Vasco da Gama, has moved to progress talks to deliver a new stadium.
A new stadium would mean that Flamengo would ultimately move out of the Estadio de Maracanã which has been its home since its construction in 1950. The Rio de Janeiro State Government confirmed in June that a consortium formed by Flamengo and Fluminense had been awarded a contract to manage the Maracanã for the next 20 years.
The Fla/Flu Consortium had appeared set to land the contract in May after submitting a higher bid than a proposal put forward by Vasco and the WTorre conglomerate. The contract covers the Maracanã Complex, which includes both the iconic stadium and the Maracanãzinho arena. Flamengo and Fluminense had already been operating the complex after signing a new short-term deal with the State Government back in November.
While seeking to secure long-term control of the Maracanã, Flamengo has never hid its long-term ambition to secure its own home. Flamengo president Rodolfo Landim in May detailed his vision for a new 80,000-seat stadium for the club, signalling his intention to buy the necessary land by December.
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