Ricardo Lomba, new president of the council, wants more plurality and a more peaceful Flamengo

Flamengo elected this Monday (16) the new president of the Council Deliberative. Ricardo Lomba will be responsible for the portfolio in the next three years with the main objective of pacifying the club and putting forward the statute reform plan. Supported by Luiz Eduardo Baptista, Bap, who also won the election, he managed to bring together people from the most different groups throughout the campaign.

"I am very honored to find support from different currents in this turbulent election environment. I have received many calls from people from Bap, Maurício and Landim. It shows that, despite what happened in the election for the Board of Directors, people see in me someone who can make a good contribution to Flamengo. , count on everyone's participation. Everyone will have space and a voice. We need to democratize this debate, expand the discussions, convince everyone that, no matter where the amendment proposal comes from, we will discuss the merits. and not their origin. I'm surprised by the amount of support and it gives me great expectations", said Lomba.

Ricardo Lomba was elected in a vote at the headquarters Gávea last Monday. He ran against Álvaro Ferreira and received 943 votes. 

Pacification involves calming the atmosphere within the club. During the presidential election, the Bap and Dunshee/Landim groups attacked each other several times. Behind the scenes and in the transition between governments there were problems.

Lomba é co-owner of Flamengo and engineer by training. He is the tax director of the Federal Revenue Service and used to frequent the stands in and around Rio de Janeiro. In 2010 he joined the club and was part of the committee that investigated Patrícia Amorim's accounts. Afterwards, he was vice-president of the Deliberative Council and became vice-president of football under the Eduardo Bandeira de Mello administration at the end of 2017 and in 2018, the year in which he ran for president of the club as the current candidate and was defeated by Rodolfo Landim. He tried to be President of the Council in 2021 and succeeded in 2024.

Words from the new chairman of the board

In an interview with the UOL portal, Lomba spoke about various subjects:

What does he want to achieve? "I have always sought throughout my time at Flamengo to build friendships, to have relationships. Of course, when you are in a huge club and in a very heterogeneous group, you cannot please everyone. But assuming that We are faced with political adversaries and not enemies, I think you are starting to come up with a good solution for this. There is no problem in talking and sitting with people who think completely differently than me. we start doing this pacification. I believe that the Deliberative Council is an extremely important power. Big decisions are made there, the most relevant ones. My idea is to have a plural council, with people from different groups debating at a high level. We have to debate ideas, concepts, projects, regardless of where it comes from. There is no reason for a certain project to come from an opposition group and not consider it just for that reason. We have to put the good of Flamengo first. The idea is to talk to whoever, try to pacify the club, bring everyone to the reality that must be faced, which is to make Flamengo better and bigger."

Greater challenges and stadium: "These are huge challenges. As if any normal three-year period were not enough and the challenges are great, we have a cherry on the cake which is "just" the construction of a stadium. We bought the land in an environment where there was even some controversy, because it was a very accelerated process. Speaking as a partner and advisor: talking to other friends at Flamengo, we thought it was a vote in which we were tied. There was no way I could vote against it because it is the nation's dream. But the way it developed is that very few people had any better knowledge of it all. We had very little information. That vote was very celebrated, and I voted in favor, but it was kind of like we have to do this, because we can't be against it. But what are we actually buying? What land is that? Is the land ready for something to be built on it? Do the licenses already exist? What is the project? We had no information. This is the big challenge. Furthermore, we also have to live with a crazy calendar in 2025. Flamengo, when entering a championship, enters to win."

Why Deliberative? "I have always understood the Deliberative Council as a very important power. Back in 2012, when we started to participate in Flamengo's political life, in that Chapa Azul campaign, and President Eduardo Bandeira de Mello was elected, we were already discussing and working on the statute. It has always been a very dear topic for us. When Bap calls me to talk and we talk about elections, at some point he invites me to do so. I was very excited. It would be a very interesting opportunity for what we wanted back then to reform the statute, modernize it. I welcomed this as an interesting challenge. We were very concerned about forming a very good team, with competent people, discussing Flamengo in a broad way and without putting the pieces in place. Our concern was to win the election and, from now on, led by Bap, the pieces will start to fall into place."

Can being supported by Bap get in the way? "Flamengo is divided into spheres and powers. And each power has its area of ​​activity and its competencies, one power does not rule over the other. Of course, the president is that bigger figure, but Bap has his responsibilities, his area of ​​activity. The president of the Deliberative Council is as much president as the president of the Board of Directors, but he has another area of ​​activity, other responsibilities, just like the president of the Fiscal Council. There is a division of powers so that you have an administrative structure and things flow better. They have to be independent, yes, but harmonious. You have to have an alignment of thoughts and ideas for things to flow in a good way, for Flamengo to evolve and move forward. But I won't interfere with Bap's power, just as I'm sure he won't interfere with my power. Let's talk, debate, but there is no interference of the president's power over the president of the Deliberative. The person in charge of the Deliberative Council is not the president either, it is the plenary."