The article published today in the newspaper O Globo (title below) once again portrays a negative image of Flamengo, harming our efforts to revive Olympic sports at the club and to work towards a movement in the State of Rio de Janeiro in favor of athletes, coaches and children and adolescents in our state, especially those at risk.

FLA CANNOT RECEIVE PUBLIC FUNDS\ Claudio Nogueira - O Globo - February 8, 2009\ Interview with COB Superintendent - Marcus Vinicius Freire\

Flamengo has been training athletes and citizens for 113 years. Countless titles and idols Olympic Fla helped the club build its brand. A brand that, along with its athletes and coaches, attracts children and adolescents of all ages, social classes, regardless of race, creed, or gender. It's a fact that the club, like the industry, is in debt and finds itself in the grip of a crisis that's ravaging the world. To complicate matters, it's in a state that has been depleting political, social, economic, cultural, and sporting roles for decades.

We recognize that the sports sector has not evolved and kept pace with the professionalization of the courts and fields. Operational management can no longer be led by dedicated volunteer managers, who are so important in building these great brands in Brazilian sports. A new management model is imperative, one where the role of volunteer managers can be dignified and valued, forming management boards that will define the strategic planning results, establishing the mission, vision, and short-, medium-, and long-term objectives of sports organizations. Professional leaders will be responsible for making this strategic plan a reality by directing day-to-day activities.

This week I was able to watch about 60 children, most of them low-income, training at Flamengo's Cláudio Coutinho Gymnasium, under the guidance of our coaches and athletes. Diego Hipólito was guiding a group of children who looked at him with a mixture of admiration and attention. I took the collaborators who are helping me at Fla Olimpico, whose vice president I took over a week ago, to show them and ask them if, in the projects we're developing, we would have to portray that scene. I mentioned that a few months ago, nearby, on the corner of Bartolomeu Mitre and Lagoa Barra, next to the Leblon battalion, my daughter was attacked by boys who looked like those there.

We're not going to perform miracles. We promise to work hard. We have about eight people on the team, who are donating at least 90 days of full-time work to Flamengo.

We are already preparing a campaign for the state, with the help of other clubs and federations with whom we have been talking, which is the Olympic Movement of the State of Rio de Janeiro. The Fla-Olympic, under the theme Training Athletes and Citizens, will engage in this campaign to raise awareness of the importance of clubs in the state's sports development. After all, the club, as a mother cell, was the model chosen by Brazilian society over 100 years ago for the sports development of our country.

Instead of refuting an article that harms the history of this giant called Flamengo, built by society and which is going through a delicate situation, I want to appeal to the sports directors of Flamengo and other entities, authorities and sports journalists, that we adopt a different stance, based on positivity, construction and hope.

Sports can combat violence and drugs, and help educate, socialize, and integrate. It's time to reflect and consider the future of athletes, coaches, sports professionals, clubs, and, most importantly, the children of our state.

Joao Henrique Areias\ VP of Olympic Sports at Flamengo\ Training Athletes and Citizens\ Olympic Movement of the State of Rio de Janeiro\