Marcio Braga on Sportv

Marcio Braga agrees with Zico's criticism and says Fla could have closed

By - in 23/12/2008 às 12:29

President acknowledges that Rubro-Negro is behind schedule, but remembers that he took over the club in a state of insolvency

GLOBOESPORTE.COM Rio de Janeiro

Zico spoke, and Flamengo's president nodded. After criticism of the club's lack of structure, president Marcio Braga responded to the Flamengo idol this Tuesday morning, speaking to SporTV Newsroom. Instead of confronting him, the president sided with the former player, who was on the show's panel, and detailed the club's financial crisis. "Zico is absolutely right. What's happening at Flamengo are the difficulties it has faced since Edmundo Santos Silva's tenure, which left a huge hole. Flamengo was insolvent in 2004. We would have had to sell all our assets to pay our creditors, and we would still have a debt of R$139 million. It would have been a miracle if we hadn't closed the doors. Now we've pulled out of the water. Flamengo is moving forward. We may be behind, but we're moving forward," he declared. In his critical speech, Zico lamented that the creation of a company to manage football didn't go ahead. The current president agreed, but blamed Flamengo's outdated statute for the delay.

"If we don't separate football from social and Olympic activities, the club will collapse. It needs to have autonomy. We submitted the proposal to the Deliberative Council earlier this year so they can approve the institutional reform and allow the creation of the football business association. Next year, in 2009, the Council will vote on this issue," declared Marcio Braga. Another complaint from the Flamengo idol was the club's desire to remove professional football from Gávea. Marcio Braga explained that the idea is to remodel the main headquarters. The training center would be for the youth teams. "The revitalization program is to keep football in Gávea, and Flamengo will have to play at Maracanã. It will be the venue for entertainment, and at Gávea we will continue preparing the professional team and the youth teams. We just need to get the licenses," said the club director.