Brazilian court acquits suspects in fire at football academy that killed ten people

A state court in Rio de Janeiro has acquitted the last remaining defendants accused of responsibility in a fire that ripped through the sleeping quarters of an academy of popular Brazilian professional soccer club Flamengo in 2019, killing 10 teenage players.

They were accused of causing the fire through negligence, and prosecutors had sought their conviction in May. But Tuesday’s ruling said there was insufficient evidence to prove the defendants directly contributed to the fire. The decision can be appealed.

“Criminal liability cannot be assigned to a person solely on the basis of the position he or she occupied, without concrete evidence of a decisive act or omission that led to the outcome,” said the Rio state court statement published on Wednesday.

Eleven people were initially charged in 2021, but charges only remained against the seven who were acquitted. Charges against the other four were dismissed at earlier stages.

The criminal liability of Eduardo Carvalho Bandeira de Mello, who was president of the club at the time, was dismissed due to the expiry of the limitation period.

The fire at the club, probably the most popular in Brazil and one of the most recognizable in Latin America, sparked widespread outrage at the time.

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Firefighters were called to the sprawling Ninho de Urubu training ground in Rio’s western region just after 5am.

Like many professional clubs, Flamengo has a development program for promising young players. Many, especially those living outside Rio, stay at the facilities during training.

The dream of many young people in Brazil, winner of five World Cup titles, is to make it to the pros. The academies identify talented players at a young age and work with them as they grow, with the best eventually playing for Flamengo or other teams in Brazil.

Within hours of the fire, the club’s president called it «the worst tragedy» in the team’s history.

But questions soon arose about the safety of the container-like structures where 26 players were sleeping when the fire struck.

For at least four years before the fire, the club ignored city and code regulations at its training facility, was assessed numerous fines and was the target of a lawsuit by state attorneys general regarding the treatment of academy players and their living quarters, an Associated Press review of city documents and a lawsuit found at the time.

The decision to acquit the defendants has outraged some on social media. One account called Dona Lucia, with more than 90,000 followers on X, said: “Justice is what we have least in Brazil.”

Published on October 23, 2025