The second part of the Serie A of Carioca referee meeting ended without agreement. The desire of Fluminense and Botafogo was overcome by the strength of the other clubs in the state, in the block formed by Flamengo, Vasco and the smaller clubs.
The meeting determined that Flamengo and Bangu will face each other this Thursday (18), in the resumption of the competition, in the Maracanã stadium. And it is scheduled for next Monday the games of Fluminense and Botafogo, against the will of both clubs.
Overcome in the vote, the presidents of Fluminense and Botafogo promise to go to Sports Justice to not enter the pitch and avoid the W.O in the two remaining Rio Cup games. The president of TJD-RJ, Marcelo Jucá, participated in the two days of meetings.
“Ignoring the risks of the pandemic and even the risk of injury to athletes due to lack of adequate training time, the referee committee chose to maintain its reckless position, establishing the dates of June 22 and 25 for Fluminense. Therefore, there is no other alternative for the club than to seek measures in Sports Courts to assert what is right. In other words, reschedule the date of our games for July,” said the president of Flu, Mário Bittencourt.
The mood for Tuesday night's meeting was much more tense than it was the night before. The Monday meeting was so long that the leaders decided to have a new debate the next day. The idea was to see if it would be possible to combine the interests of both sides.
Fluminense, for example, said its desire was to enter the field only after the 29th. The results of the tests done in the tricolor squad should come out on Thursday. The projection is that training will only resume on Friday. Thus, there is not enough time to get players in shape, after three months of stoppage, to go on the pitch on Monday, against Volta Redonda.
President Mário Bittencourt's attempt was to get another ten days of training, but he received no support. Since the previous day, he had already said that he would seek justice, if necessary, to postpone the ‘tricolor’ game.
On the other side of the debate, the clubs were resentful of Flu, since it was its option not to restart activities at the same time as the others. Ferj's president Rubens Lopes even compared Fluminense and Botafogo to bad students who do not study for a test and ask for it to be postponed.
Botafogo joined the attempt to postpone the return to games. The club has already detected five cases of contamination with coronavirus in the squad and awaits the result of the entire battery of tests on Friday. Training should return on Saturday, the day before the confrontation with Cabofriense. Carlos Augusto Montenegro, a member of Botafogo's football management council, participated in the committee meeting alongside President Nelson Mufarrej. He cited the difficulties to return now to action and also highlighted the unwillingness to put the team in the pitch.
One of Flamengo's representatives at the meeting was Cacau Cotta, the club's director of institutional relations. At a certain point, he raised his tone and spoke harder to the leaders of Fluminense and Botafogo.
Vasco's position
Alexandre Campello, Vasco's president, even considered favoring a more flexible date to avoid an even greater clash with Fluminense and Botafogo. But as time went on, the agreement idealized at the beginning became increasingly distant.
“Vasco proposed a sensible agreement. Either we reach this deal or each one will go their own way and bear the consequences,” Carlos Augusto Montenegro told GLOBO, saying that Campello suggested games on June 28 and July 1.
The reality that threatens the Carioca championship, in addition to the coronavirus itself, is the legal fight. This Wednesday morning, the clubs will have a meeting with Mayor Marcelo Crivella to fulfill the needed steps regarding the schedule decided.
Schedule agreed
Thursday - Flamengo x Bangu
Friday - Portuguesa x Boavista
Sunday - Vasco x Macaé / Madureira x Resende
Monday - Fluminense x Volta Redonda / Botafogo x Cabofriense
Source: GMB / O Globo
