Author: Amrit Santlani
Times change quickly in soccer. Recently, former Flamengo president Eduardo Bandeira de Mello denied running against Rodolfo Landim, but it has been reported that Bandeira will in fact challenge Landim for the presidency of the club, with Márcio Braga at his side. Flamengo’s presidential elections are scheduled for December 2024 and are a topic of debate in South America. According to reports, Braga and Bandeira de Mello met recently to discuss their plans to run for election against the current leader.
Eduardo had already presided over Flamengo from 2013 to 2018, when Wallim Vasconcellos and Rodolfo Landim were running for president and vice-president. In the end, Bandeira and Walter D’Agostino won, and in recent months he has been linked to the post again.
After Bandeira denied running for election, Flávio Willeman’s name was also being speculated as the main candidate to challenge Landim.
Willeman was legal vice-president during Bandeira’s tenure. On the 14th, a vote was organized on the amendment to the statute that prohibited the presence of people holding elected positions in public bodies during Flamengo’s presidential election, kicking off the Deliberative Council event.
Eduardo Bandeira de Mello was therefore affected by the measure and, shortly afterwards, the president of the CoDe, Antônio Alcides, declared the session closed.
Those who were with Bandiera said that this amendment had been rejected by the majority of people present during the session, and the former supremo considered the movement being blocked to be a massive “coup”.
Meanwhile, Marcio Braga, who used to be a staunch supporter of Landim, has changed sides and is backing Bandeira. The 87-year-old joined the former president in the hope of ousting Landim.
Meanwhile, the club recently parted company with coach Jorge Sampaoli after his failure to win titles. Former Brazilian national team coach Tite is Flamengo’s main option, but the veteran had already declared his desire to work abroad rather than coach a Brazilian team. Flamengo are currently fifth in Serie A.