Three years after the start, formula for the single final of Libertadores is questioned

In an interview with Sheet, in early 2018, the president of Conmebol, Alejandro Domínguez, presented his arguments to defend the end of tradition on the continent. The proposal was to make the finals of the entity’s tournaments become a single game.

“[A decisão em apenas uma partida] It helps with the security issue, which becomes a responsibility of CONMEBOL and not of a national association. It’s good in all aspects. Sponsors invest more, the game will generate a lot more resources,” he said.

Four years later, managers, former players and marketing experts question whether the measure was worth it. Finals, especially the Sul-Americana, were played in empty stadiums. Travel prices have become prohibitive for fans. Conmebol had to change headquarters in a hurry more than once.

This Saturday (29), Flamengo and Athletico decide the Libertadores title in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

“The idea of ​​the single final has already been tested, based on a European model, but in South America it doesn’t work because it harms the experience of the fan, who pays dearly, doesn’t have a quality delivery and is not satisfied with the cost-benefit, failing to honor the club because of that”, evaluates Fábio Wolff, a specialist in sports marketing.

Domínguez denied that the purpose of the change is to copy Uefa and try to transform Libertadores in the Champions League.

“It’s not a question of imitating UEFA, but realizing that they are doing things better,” he added.

For him, it was just the natural path of football in South America.

“If you ask me what I like, it would be two games. The only final is the one you can’t go wrong with. In the physical and mental part, you need to be at the apex. There is no margin for error”, says the defender and current football executive Edu Dracena.

As a defender, he was Libertadores champion with Santos in 2011, still in the round-trip system. As a manager of Palmeiras, he participated in the first decision in a single match, when his team defeated the same Santos 1-0 at Maracanã, in 2021 – referring to the 2020 tournament.

Going back is not in Conmebol’s immediate plans. In the current model, the entity has sponsorship contracts for its tournaments until 2026.

When the idea of ​​the single final came up, there were isolated protests. The main argument was the Libertadores tradition, disputed since 1960. But CONMEBOL pressed the security key to reinforce its thesis. There was an invasion at Maracanã, riots and episodes of violence in the 2017 South American return game, between Flamengo and Independiente (ARG).

“In the single final we have security control. [a confusão no Maracanã] It was unfortunate for football. When there is an organization without rivalry it becomes easier. It was just a miracle that there was no tragedy,” argued weeks later the organization’s director of development, Argentine Gonzalo Belloso.

The 2018 Libertadores seemed to prove Conmebol right. The first match of the title definition, between Boca Juniors and River Plate, had to be postponed because of the rain. The second did not take place at River’s stadium because the visiting team’s bus was stoned.

Advised by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and with funding from Qatar Airways, sponsor of the tournament and the confederation, the game took place in Madrid, with the look and feel of a unique final. The airline, a subsidiary of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, controlled by the royal family, paid all expenses.

“It was a measure I didn’t agree with. I still don’t agree. I understood it as if Conmebol wanted to test what it wanted in the future: the single final”, explains the then president of River, Rodolfo D’Onofrio.

The new model took effect in 2019 and since then, it has accumulated problems.

The Libertadores decision that year would be in Santiago, Chile. The city was shaken by student protests and Conmebol took the clash between Flamengo and River Plate to Lima. Months earlier, the Peruvian capital had lost, due to political instability, the decision of the Copa Sudamericana, transferred to Asunción.

Santos and Palmeiras should play at Maracanã without fans to define the 2020 champion, a measure taken due to the restrictions caused by Covid-19.

About two thousand fans went to the stadium and the protocols against the pandemic ended up being ignored. The 2021 decision had several sections of the Centenary, in Montevideo, empty, especially the one reserved for the Palmeiras fans.

The 2021 South American finals (in Montevideo), between Athletico and Red Bull Bragantino, and 2022 (Córdoba), between São Paulo and Independiente del Valle (EQU), were played in empty stadiums.

Conmebol even considered the possibility of changing the headquarters of this year’s Libertadores. Barcelona, ​​which owns the stadium in Guayaquil, had not met the requirements for structural reforms to hold the event. The exchange did not take place.

For the arena with capacity for 59 thousand people, only 14 thousand tickets had been sold until this Thursday (27). The organization is considering making donations so that the stands do not appear empty to those watching on television.

The definition of the South American would be in Brasília. It was changed to Córdoba because of the Brazilian presidential election.

“Libertadores has unique characteristics as a product and brand. The fans’ wild passion and the spectacle of the stands lose a lot with the single final. In addition, airline network, hotel network, costs for fans, distances, all of this influences and ends up limiting the number of cities capable of receiving a decision of this size”, says Armênio Neto, Santos’ marketing director when the team won the 2011 title, and a specialist in sports business.

Ticket prices to Montevideo before the 2021 final have soared. They went from around BRL 2,000 to up to BRL 15,000. Three-star hotels announced daily rates of R$36,000 per night.

The cheapest ticket for the match between Palmeiras and Flamengo was US$ 200 (R$ 1,067 at the current price). In the same year, Chelsea and Manchester City played in the English Champions League final. The cheapest entry was US$ 70 (R$ 373.60).

Faced with the criticism, Conmebol officials responded that the benefited would be the clubs, which would receive more.

THE Sheet spoke with two team presidents who have been in at least one single final since 2019. They don’t see a financial advantage because the prize pool is already set in advance. Two of them also see technical loss due to unpredictability. In round trips, the trend, they believe, is for the best structured work team to win.

This year, the champion will receive a prize of US$ 16 million (R$ 85.70 million), US$ 1 million (R$ 5.36 million) more than in 2021.