Professional moaners: José Boto hits back at criticism over Fla-Flu delay

Professional moaners: José Boto hits back at criticism over Fla-Flu delay

Flamengo’s football director, José Boto, spoke this Sunday (12) about the criticism over the postponement of Fla-Flu.

He said there are “professional whiners” who spoke about something that did not concern them.

The executive also defended the date change because of the difficulties in the red-and-black delegation’s return after their Libertadores debut.

There is a lot of confusion, and I heard a lot being said about something that should be normal. If there are clubs we are used to seeing that are whiners, who cry about everything, who are professional whiners... There are others that really surprised me for speaking about something that does not concern them. It was a difficult trip, just as Fluminense’s was. For the good of the spectacle and the health of the players, there was an agreement between the clubs to play the match today. I am sure the game we are going to watch today will be better than the one we would have seen yesterday. The players have one more day of rest, and it is not just Flamengo’s players. Fluminense’s do as well. Obviously, if Fluminense’s coach did not think it would be better, and every coach wants extra training days and time for their players to rest, he would not have accepted it. It is something that is good for the spectacle, good for Brazilian football

José Boto, Flamengo executive, in an interview with Flamengo TV

Rubro-Negro requested the postponement of Fla-Flu because of a delay in the return from Cusco, Peru, where the team played last Wednesday (8).

Palmeiras publicly expressed its dissatisfaction with the CBF’s decision to accept the date change.

“Only one club has its request granted, while other teams have been systematically having similar requests rejected by the entity,” the São Paulo club wrote in an official statement.

Fluminense president Mattheus Montenegro also spoke this Sunday to defend the postponement of Fla-Flu.

“I think the main premise here is that changing the match from Saturday to Sunday brings no real harm to Fluminense,” he argued.

He added that the club has never “depended on any advantage from facing a rival from Brazilian football.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.