Flamengo’s £360m stadium project suffers fresh blow amid Maracana ‘priority’

Flamengo‘s plans to construct a new stadium at Gasometro have been dealt a fresh blow, leaving the £360m project remaining as a distant prospect.

Several obstacles surrounding the stadium project have emerged and caused the estimated cost to rise to £360m, while the club's president has admitted that Maracana remains the priority.

Gasometro facing three obstacles

Flamengo's plan to construct their new stadium at the Gasometro site is facing three major obstacles, which have left the stadium remaining as a distant prospect.

One of the biggest problems being faced is the infrastructure owned by Naturgy, a company involved in natural gas distribution.

The company's facilities currently occupy around 55% of the site proposed for the future stadium, meaning Naturgy's relocation is required before any further work on the stadium project can proceed.

The process depends on authorities in Rio de Janeiro identifying a new location for the infrastructure, and according to the technical assessment presented by Flamengo in 2025, relocation could take up to four years from the moment a suitable suit is identified and becomes available.

Following the eventual conclusion of this problem, Flamengo would then have to clean up the site, with required decontamination of the site anticipated to take between 18 and 24 months.

This decontamination would be essential in helping the club secure the required environmental and construction permits, with environmental remediation, therefore, necessary before the next phase of the project can be reached.

The final major obstacle faced by Flamengo is receiving regulatory approval, with the club having to obtain the necessary permits to begin construction once the previous two steps are completed.

Luiz Eduardo Baptista, Flamengo club president, recently admitted that the club are facing a long wait for a stadium of their own, followed by saying his and the club's priority remains making the most of Maracana.

Baptista stressed that the construction of a new stadium will also only make sense once they have outgrown the capacity of Maracana, with the club president saying a stadium of their own will only be required when they are selling out all 71,000 seats at their current home and leaving thousands of fans unable to attend.

However, Baptista did go on to note that this does not mean the new stadium project is being abandoned, but he did say that “I think it will take some time.

“Honestly, perhaps my children will be the ones to see this stadium.”

FGG Says: Sad to see Flamengo leave

Although a new stadium would be an exciting time for supporters, having to say goodbye to Maracana would also mark an emotional departure, so the new project being delayed by some years may not be particularly bad news for those who do not wish to say goodbye to their current home.