The relationship between Vasco and the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro, is in crisis. The main reason is the Maracanã.
Since the arrival of 777 Partners, the North American company that bought Vasco da Gama SAF, the club has shown interest in participating in the tender for the stadium, currently managed by Flamengo and Fluminense. However, a video of Castro went very badly in São Januário on Sunday.
– We were surprised yesterday (Sunday) by the governor’s unfortunate statements regarding the Maracanã offer. But one point was important: he said that the Maracanã will be managed by football teams. Vasco is a football club. Know that we will do everything in our power so that when the rules are published, Vasco can provide the best possible proposal – said Luiz Mello, CEO of Vasco.
The 777 has also manifested itself in an official way. Juan Arciniegas, general manager and head of sports, media and entertainment of the company, said that “the commitment is to transform this icon of global sport into one of the best arenas in the world” (read the full notes below) .
The most recent chapter of the dispute began on Friday, when the columnist Lauro Jardim published in the newspaper “O Globo” a report on a meeting between the governor and Vasco. According to the statement, when asked about guarantees that competition would be fair, Castro replied: “This is Brazil, no one can give you any guarantees.”
The meeting was attended by the CEO Luiz Mello, the general manager of 777, Juan Arciniegas and the 1st VP General Carlos Roberto Osório. Also present was the Secretary of the Civil House, Nicola Miccione. At the time, Vasco recorded the meeting on his official website with the headline: “The governor promises a fair trial in the concession of the Maracanã”.
Last Sunday, two days after the publication of Lauro Jardim’s note, Cláudio Castro posted a video on his Instagram that fell like a bomb in São Januário. According to him, when he replied that he could not give guarantees, he was referring only to the date of publication of the offer.
In the video, Cláudio Castro attacks the leaders present at the meeting and refers to the American holding company as “this 777 fund”. The governor also reveals his preference for the Maracanã to be run by clubs.
– The Maracanã should be administered by football clubs and not simply by clubs. The vocation of the greatest in the world is football, and it is the clubs that make the show. It is from this assumption that my certainty arises that the best thing for the Maracanã is to have the football clubs in charge of its management – said the governor.
In the tender procedure that ended up being suspended in 2022, Vasco (in partnership with WTorre and the American company Legends) would contest the concession against Flamengo and Fluminense, which currently manages the stadium. A consortium was also in the running with the managers of Mané Garrincha, in Brasilia.
Vasco came out Monday evening on the statement of the governor Cláudio Castro.
Luiz Mello released a video:
– Yesterday we were surprised by the governor’s unfortunate statements regarding the Maracanã offer. But one point was important: he said that the Maracanã will be managed by football teams. Vasco is a football club. Vasco is the first team to win a title at the Maracanã. Vasco has won many titles and these fans understand that Maracanã is also their home. For this reason, we are happy to accommodate this requirement. I want to reassure the Vasco fans. Know that we will do everything in our power so that, when the rules are published, Vasco can deliver the best possible proposal. The best possible product to be able to manage Maracanã together with our partners.
Carlos Roberto Osório, named by name in the video, shared the following note:
“Regarding the note published on Friday in Lauro Jardim’s column, I would like to clarify that I was present at Vasco’s meeting with Governor Claudio Castro last 12/12/22. I think it is important to contextualize the situation. The main theme of the meeting was the Maracanã Concession, the Governor spoke of the difficulty of the rituals of the Brazilian public system and for this reason he said he could not give guarantees on the conclusion dates of the tender, which was suspended by the TCE”.
Juan Arciniegas, General Manager and Head of Sports, Media and Entertainment at 777 Partners, released a statement:
777 Partners has decided to invest in Brazil because it believes in the country and in its countless opportunities. We brought the “Maracanã para Todos” project to the Government, a consortium formed by a football giant like Vasco and the renowned companies Legends and WTorre, two of the largest stadium managers on the planet.
We are committed to transforming this global sports icon into one of the best arenas in the world. We are confident that our offering is the best and that any fair and objective process will achieve this same conclusion.
We publicly reiterate our demand that the Maracanã offer be fair and transparent. And we renew our promise to make the stadium available to all clubs and their supporters.
We stand ready to work with the governor and his team in this process, as long as it is always done in a respectful and professional manner.
State and Basque MP Chiquinho da Mangueira, who was present at the meeting and also quoted by the governor, said the following in connection with the report:
“This news is completely false. I only learned about it today, I was traveling for a vacation. But the only thing Governor Cláudio Castro said was: ‘I can’t guarantee a deadline because the laws here in Brazil are different The courts of State accounts are independent, we have to wait. When they publish it we will make an offer in a week at the latest”. He said: “Well, if Vasco loses, I will do everything to try and reach an agreement so that Vasco can play in the Maracanã.”
How is the bidding process going?
In November last year, the Rio de Janeiro government postponed the Maracanã tender and renewed the concession for six months to Flamengo and Fluminense, who now have a stadium management contract until April. At the time Vasco had presented two requests for the provisional management of the arena, which remained unanswered.
The process was paralyzed by the State Audit Court, which carried out a technical evaluation and evaluated several sections that needed to be modified. The TEC therefore ruled that the bidding process should be redone. This new offer is being prepared by the Civil House of the State. There is no date for resuming the trial.
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