CONMEBOL Rejects Flamengo's Complaint Over Marcos Rojo's Eligibility

The Marcos Rojo saga didn't end with the final whistle at the Maracana. Flamengo never came to terms with its Copa Libertadores semifinal elimination and decided to take the matter to the offices: the club filed a formal complaint with CONMEBOL over the defender's eligibility to play in that match. The answer came this Wednesday, and it was a door slammed shut in Mengao's face.

The South American body rejected the Brazilian club's request, which had zeroed in on how Rojo's presence was authorized just one day before the game. For Flamengo, that authorization was not a final ruling, even though it had come from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). On that basis, the club argued that the former Boca Juniors man might have been fielded irregularly. CONMEBOL didn't see it that way, and Estudiantes de La Plata kept its spot in the final just as it had earned it on the field.

Sources at Estudiantes confirmed that the Disciplinary Committee threw out the complaint, which had directly targeted an alleged improper fielding of Rojo in the second leg of the semifinals. The club coached by Uruguayan Alexander Medina is already looking ahead: it awaits Palmeiras in the Copa final, set for Saturday, November 28, in Montevideo.

So what does Flamengo do now? According to ESPN Brasil, there's no new filing in the works. The club's internal reading is that it was CONMEBOL itself that cast doubt on the version of events, while Flamengo had simply laid out its position. If the governing body determines that Rojo was eligible to play, that's the end of the story for the Brazilians, with no further recourse on the table.

Where the whole mess started

Rojo's registration had been a headache in the days before the match. CONMEBOL initially rejected it because the defender was registered in the local league outside the transfer window: Estudiantes filed the paperwork on October 9, but already outside the corresponding window. The regulations are clear that players must be registered in the national competition, so the body had to decide whether the exception that allowed Rojo to be added fit within the rules.

It was no small detail: CONMEBOL's Disciplinary Code allows for an irregular inclusion to result in a loss of points and a 3-0 walkover in favor of the opponent. There's a recent precedent for that. In the 2018 Libertadores, Santos was punished for improperly fielding Carlos Sanchez against Independiente. The match had ended 0-0, but CONMEBOL declared it a loss for Santos and confirmed the 3-0 in favor of Independiente.

CONMEBOL resolves to declare Santos Futebol Clube the loser of the match played on August 21, to set the result at 3-0 in favor of Club Atletico Independiente, and to confirm the suspension of player Carlos Andres Sanchez Arcos.CONMEBOL

The difference with the Rojo case is key: Santos had failed to follow a CONMEBOL procedure of its own, whereas the authorization for the defender to play against Flamengo came from a higher legal body, the CAS. That distinction ended up being decisive in the complaint's failure to succeed.