Unaware of the final of the Supercopa do Brasil, between Flamengo and Atlético-MG, last month, Antonio Tadeu de Oliveira, 57, went to the Naldo Bikes store, in Porto Velho, Rondônia.
While the leader of the CBF ranking of 2022 and the third place disputed the first national football trophy of the season, the president of Rondoniense received the donation of a bicycle painted in red and blue.
“I’m going to do a raffle with her. If I manage to raise R$ 5 thousand, it will help a lot. Playing football without money is a rush”, he says.
In the 2022 national club ranking, Flamengo is in first place, with 17,054 points. Rondoniense is 236th and last, with 15.
The difference between the two is much greater than the 235 positions on the list that takes into account recent results.
Flamengo’s highest salary is Gabigol’s, around R$1.6 million per month. To hire midfielder Fernandinho, Tadeu made a deal. He calls it a “package”. For the three months of the state of Rondônia, he pays R$ 5 thousand. If you are champion, another R$ 8 thousand.
Most of the cast is made up of boys from the basic categories, who receive R$ 100 in living expenses, transportation vouchers and a basic food basket. When there are training sessions twice a day, Rondoniense offers lunch. Something possible because a supermarket in the city donates the vegetables.
This year, Flamengo expects revenues of R$ 1 billion.
“I’ll explain to you how I keep the team. During the year, I save money. I get around R$30,000 or R$40,000. But I can’t. If I look at everything, travel, food, salaries, I spend R$100,000. I don’t have that amount. So, I spend the 12 months of each year saving up to finance the next championship or paying off the debts from the last state”, says the president.
If for the main clubs in the country the top of the mountain is to win the Libertadores and go to the World Cup, the dream of Tadeu and Rondoniense is much, much more modest. Win the state championship. And it’s not even exactly the title. It’s for the spot in the following year’s Copa do Brasil. It means financial redemption.
Just to play the first phase, it’s R$ 625 thousand. After this stage, the next match is worth R$ 1 million.
“That’s when I take the belly out of misery”, notes Tadeu.
It’s not just his survival but that of his players. Of the young people who dream, despite the predictions, of having football as their gold mine. For the more veterans too. Those who plan just how to survive another year.
Fernandinho, 27, works for three months in Rondônia, usually in Rondoniense, and then goes out into the field. You need to earn some money in the other months. It could be a Serie D club of the Brazilian. It could be the lowland of Porto Velho, where it works for the payment of an animal. It could be at Fut7, where he was the Brazilian champion last year.
“The state opens the market. My thought is to make a good championship, seek the title. If it works well, interested people appear. There are many people watching the games, and I may go somewhere. I also have some contacts outside the country. “, he explains.
To show up, it’s worth adapting. Revealed as a striker, he moved to the midfielder and today plays as a second midfielder.
It is more or less the thought of Rondoniense as a club. Founded as a social project in 2007, only with teams from the basic categories, it became a professional by the will of Tadeu. Systems analyst at Eletrobras, he also manages to dedicate himself to the club thanks to the stability of a public servant,
Youth officials contacted him last week. The team from Rio Grande do Sul would face Porto Velho in the Copa do Brasil. Rondoniense is one of the few clubs in the state that have a training center.
“We give in, no problem. They give us an official shirt, some tickets for the game, and we lend the field”, informs the president.
All “donations” will be raffled off or sold to help fund the season. The dream is to have a budget of R$ 300 thousand per year or R$ 25 thousand per month.
“If you take the Hulk’s salary [cerca de R$ 2 milhões]I keep the team working and participating in all the tournaments, from the base and professional, for about seven years”, he informs.
If the leader of the CBF ranking doesn’t think about becoming SAF, first of all because he doesn’t need to, the last place is open. Tadeu vows to “study the legislation a lot” to get an investor for his club. As difficult as it is to get that for a team that plays in the first division of Rondônia.
But as long as having hope doesn’t pay taxes, he dreams.
“Do you think that the reality of football is Flamengo. No, it is not. The reality of football is that of Rondoniense. It’s spending the whole year with the saucer in hand. I’m trying to sell a publicity sign in the CT. or else the sponsor buys ten shirts to help us because…”
In the middle of the sentence, Antonio Tadeu de Oliveira from Piauí stops talking and realizes his chance.
“Boy… Put it here that we are thinking of becoming SAF and we want an investor here in Rondônia’s football.
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