Former Grêmio player claims he was approached by Flamengo during the transfer window

A recent Corinthians idol and Gávea native, Renato Augusto recalled his time at Flamengo and revealed his bitterness toward the club that launched him. The former midfielder, who played in the stands at Maracanã until the semifinals of the 2006 Copa do Brasil, was promoted to the first team in the final against Vasco and helped the Red-Blacks win the title . Still, he says his strongest emotional connection today is with the São Paulo club.

Renato Augusto responds about Flamengo vs Corinthians: "where my eye shines, where I get goosebumps, emotional, today is Corinthians"

"I have affection and gratitude for Flamengo , but my story, the one that makes my eyes shine, that gives me goosebumps, that moves me, today is Corinthians. For everything I've experienced, for all the affection the fans have for me ," Renato told GE.

WHY DIDN'T RENATO AUGUSTO RETURN TO FLAMENGO?

Traded to Bayer Leverkusen (GER) in 2008 , Renato always dreamed of returning to Flamengo . According to him, however, despite his attempts, the doors never opened. The former player said he even gave his word to then-director Kléber Leite that he would prioritize the club, but the board chose another path.

"For a long time, I was hurt. I tried to return several times, and the club then sold externally, which I didn't want . That hurt me a bit. It's part of the game. At election time, I spoke with Zinho, and everything was going well, but they lost," the midfielder began.

They thought it wasn't the right time: "The player is too expensive, we don't want him." I did my part. And the following week, they signed another player in my position, for the same amount, with the same contract . Then they said I didn't want to go. How can they say that about me? To the fans, it seemed like I didn't want to come back," he recounted. Thus, Renato ended up signing with Corinthians , a club that was enjoying a period of stability and had won important titles.

RETIREMENT

At 37, Renato Augusto announced his retirement this year, after another series of injuries while playing for Fluminense . With Flamengo, he won the 2006 Copa do Brasil and the 2007 and 2008 Carioca Championships, both over Botafogo.

CORINTHIANS X FLAMENGO

Renato Augusto will be able to accompany his two former teams this Sunday (28), when Flamengo visits Corinthians at Neo Química Arena at 8:30 pm (Brasília time) , for the 25th round of the Brazilian Championship. Mengão is the leader of the competition with 51 points, while the black and white team is in 10th place, with 29.

CONMEBOL has released the dates and times for Flamengo's Copa Libertadores semifinal clash against Racing . The first leg will be played at the Maracanã Stadium on Wednesday, October 22, at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time). The decisive match will take place a week later, on Wednesday, October 29, also at 9:30 p.m., at El Cilindro in Avellaneda. The matches will be broadcast on Rede Globo (free-to-air TV) and Paramount+ (streaming).

In the other group, Palmeiras faces LDU (EQU). The first game will be in Quito on October 23 (Thursday) at 9:30 pm , while the final will take place at Allianz Parque on October 30 (Thursday) at the same time.

The Copa Libertadores final is scheduled for Saturday, November 29th, in a single match at the Monumental Stadium in Lima, Peru. The stadium brings back fond memories for the red-and-blacks, as it was there that the team won the 2019 title against River Plate .

FLAMENGO'S PATH TO THE SEMIFINAL

Flamengo secured their spot by beating Estudiantes (ARG) on penalties. Flamengo won 2-1 at the Maracanã, lost 1-0 in La Plata , and relied on Rossi's decisive penalty shootout performance . Palmeiras eliminated River Plate (ARG) with two victories: 2-1 in Buenos Aires and 3-1 in São Paulo.

BEFORE THAT…

While waiting for the decisive clash in the Libertadores, Flamengo focuses its efforts on the Brasileirão, where it faces Corinthians this Sunday (28) at 8:30 pm (Brasília time) for the 25th round of the competition . Leader with 51 points, Mais Querido needs the victory to not lose the first place in the table in the round.

Flamengo announced this Friday (26) that it has filed a lawsuit against the Brazilian Football League (Libra) . The club contests the model for dividing broadcast revenues related to the audience, which corresponds to 30% of the total. According to Rubro-Negro, the formula adopted disregards its representation on the national scene. The league responded to Mengão's action through a note .

OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM FLAMENGO

The club published a lengthy statement in which it stated:

• Who was always willing to seek an amicable solution and even accepted concessions;
• That the division approved at the assembly, attributing only 20.41% of audience revenue to Flamengo, although its fans represent 47% of Libra's fans, is illegal and violates the entity's Statute ;
• That the imposed model generates an estimated loss of R$100 million per year , 37% less than the previous contract;
• That the legal action only seeks to correct the distortion, without the objective of financially suffocating the other clubs , since only 30% of the audience is retained, while the other 70% remains released.
• Flamengo also reinforced that its fight is for respect for the Statute, for the valorization of the representation of each club and for the adoption of fairer and more balanced criteria in the division of revenues.

CASE CONTEXT

The Flamengo board understands that the majority of Brazilian football's television viewership is made up of Flamengo fans . Therefore, it considers it unfair that clubs with less appeal receive similar shares to the Mais Querido.

With this measure, Flamengo managed to block R$77 million relating to the Libra TV contract — an amount that involves all participating clubs: São Paulo, Palmeiras, Santos, Bahia, Grêmio, Vitória, Atlético-MG and Red Bull Bragantino .

LIBRA'S RESPONSE

In a statement, the organization condemned Flamengo's stance, claiming that the action " erodes the group's harmony by questioning agreements already reached ." Libra argued that the model was approved at a meeting and accused the Rio de Janeiro club of disrespecting the consensus reached.

CHECK OUT THE NOTE IN FULL

"In recent days, Clube de Regatas do Flamengo filed a lawsuit, requesting an injunction, against the Brazilian Football League (LIBRA). The goal is to prevent Flamengo from suffering additional losses due to the establishment of revenue sharing criteria based on audience ratings that do not recognize Flamengo's financial resource-generating power.

It's important to clarify that Flamengo, from the moment it joined LIBRA, agreed to a fairly even share of revenue from broadcast, image, and sound rights . Thus, 40% of revenue would be shared equally among all clubs, 30% would be divided according to the final standings in the Brazilian Serie A Championship, and 30% would be divided according to the audience generated by each club.

The LIBRA Statute provides for a legitimate right of veto (which belongs to Flamengo and all other clubs) , requiring unanimous approval of the criteria for distributing the amounts due to the clubs as part of the hearing. Furthermore, Annex 1 of the Statute provides for a guaranteed minimum revenue, corresponding to the revenues that the clubs earned from broadcasting rights in 2023.

To approve the distribution criteria, an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of LIBRA was held on 05/16/25, where Flamengo positioned itself against the revenue sharing scenario proposed by LIBRA , and the meeting was suspended without any deliberation.

The issue was revisited at a new AGM on August 26, 2025, when Flamengo and Volta Redonda voted against the LIBRA scenario, which grants Flamengo 20.41% of audience revenue , a figure far from reflecting the club's revenue-generating potential. For example, Flamengo's fan base among LIBRA clubs is 47%. Flamengo submitted its dissenting vote in writing.

Flamengo was always willing to seek an amicable solution to the problem and to make some degree of concession to reach an agreement, but the other clubs were intransigent and imposed a loss of more than 100 million reais annually on Flamengo , which represents a loss of 37% compared to the previous contract.

Given LIBRA's insistence on imposing this scenario, Even with the opposing votes of Flamengo and Volta Redonda, which constitutes a breach of the Statute and is, therefore, illegal , Flamengo had no alternative but to resort to justice.

It should be noted that Flamengo has no interest in the litigation, as most of the deposited funds go to the club, which has the largest audience in the country. It's terrible for Flamengo that the revenues owed for audience fees are judicially withheld . However, it's impossible to agree with the absurd solution that LIBRA tyrannically seeks to implement, to the club's detriment.

Finally, it's not true that the judicial deposit of the funds will financially suffocate the other clubs . Remember that the process only involves 30% of the audience, and nothing prevents the receipt of the remaining 70%, as established in the contract.

Flamengo reaffirms that its fight is for its representation to be respected, for LIBRA's decisions to be made within the rules set out in the Statute and the Law , and for the history and value of each club to be recognized for their merits, in a fair and balanced manner."