Friday (17) dawned sadder for Flamengo fans. Marilene Dabus, one of the most illustrious and important female figures in the history of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, passed away at the age of 80 in Rio de Janeiro after a long battle with cancer. The journalist was the first woman to cover soccer matches in Brazil, breaking new ground in a world that had been predominantly male until then. In 1969, the Flamengo fan agreed to participate in a knowledge program on the now-defunct TV Tupi, answering questions exclusively related to her greatest passion: Flamengo. The response was so positive that Marilene became known on the streets as the "Flamengo girl."

When Marilene Dabus showed up in Gávea to cover a Flamengo training session in the late 1960s for the newspaper Última Hora, it was a revolution. Wearing a miniskirt and high heels, she was greeted with suspicion (to say the least) by the reporters covering the club's daily activities. The players, in turn, were left open-mouthed. The same was true of the directors. Marilene handled it with ease.

In the mid-1970s, Marilene Dabus was invited to join the Broad Front for Flamengo (FAF), and it was she who invited Márcio Braga to run for president of the club. The then-candidate won the election and invited Marilene to join his administration, modernizing Flamengo and presenting the world with one of the greatest teams in the history of the club, led by the idol Zico. It's worth remembering that she was the one who conducted the first interview with the greatest player in Flamengo's history, in 1971, when Zico was just the younger brother of Edu, the star player for América. Then a reporter for Jornal dos Sports, she declared: "Today he's Edu's brother, but tomorrow they'll talk a lot about him." Our Marilene knew her stuff. She was also the first woman to interview Pelé, in the run-up to the 70 World Cup. The king of soccer received her with suspicion. "And women understand soccer," the star sneered. Marilene was unfazed. He overcame the King's suspicions and produced an exclusive story, which made the cover of Jornal dos Sports. "I gained visibility and notoriety," she recalled in her biography, “The Girl from Flamengo”, released last year.

A woman ahead of her time, Marilene was responsible for creating communication strategies and initiatives that were crucial for the Red-Black club to leverage its fan base. In fact, in the 80s, Dabus served as the club's Vice President of Communications. The journalist also created the "Baile do Vermelho e Preto" (Red and Black Ball), as well as Flamengo's first boutique. More recently, she nicknamed the George Helal Training Center in Vargem Grande "Ninho do Vulture" (Vulture's Nest). "I got the idea when we were working together to clean the land. They said vultures didn't build nests. I told her I would build them here." Marilene was also the club's first press officer. She opened another door for her.

This Saturday (18), a minute of silence will be observed in honor of the journalist before Flamengo's debut match in the Campeonato Carioca against Macaé, at 16 pm (Brasília time), at Maracanã.
 
The Dabus family and Flamengo invite everyone to the wake and cremation, tomorrow (18/01), from 11 am to 14 pm, at Chapel 3 of Memorial do Carmo.

Flamengo president Rodolfo Landim declared three days of official mourning.