The families of the ten Flamengo youth players who died in the Ninho do Urubu fire in 2019 repudiated the decision of the 36th Criminal Court of the TJRJ (Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro) to acquit the seven defendants involved in the case.
In a statement, the Association of Relatives of Victims of the Ninho do Urubu Fire (Afavinu) took a position and said it will continue “in search of justice”.
“We understand that the role of Justice is not limited to applying the law in individual cases, but performs an essential pedagogical function in preventing new similar episodes, in sending a clear message to society that security negligence, failures in the technical structure and irresponsibility will not be tolerated — and not fulfilling this function constitutes, for us, a serious affront to the memory of the victims and the feelings of the entire society”, says the Afavinu statement.
“The lives of our children have an irreparable value and in memory of the 10 innocent boys we will fight, until the end, for effective justice capable of inhibiting new crimes with sentences that protect the victims and not the perpetrators.”
HAS CNN Brazil— signed by judge Tiago Fernandes de Barros — at the 36th Criminal Court, responsible for the process.
Initially, . Marcus Vinicius, monitor, was acquitted. Engineer Luiz Felipe and former base director Carlos Noval had complaints rejected.
Former president of Flamengo, . The Public Prosecutor’s Office claimed that the top hat, who is 71 years old, could no longer be punished and, therefore, the case relating to the former leader was time-barred.
Who are the seven acquitted?
- Márcio Garotti, former financial director of Flamengo;
- Marcelo Maia de Sá, former deputy director of heritage;
- Danilo Duarte, Fabio Hilário da Silva and Weslley Gimenes, engineers responsible for technical aspects;
- Claudia Pereira Rodrigues, responsible for contracts at NHJ;
- Edson Colman, partner of the company that took care of the maintenance of air conditioning units;
Remember the victims of the tragedy
The victims of the fire at Ninho do Urubu, in the accommodation of the base divisions, on February 8, 2019, were: Athila Paixão (14 years old), Arthur Vinícius (14), Bernardo Pisetta (14), Christian Esmério (15), Gedson Santos (14), Jorge Eduardo Santos (15), Pablo Henrique (14), Rykelmo de Souza (16), Samuel Thomas Rosa (15) and Vitor Isaías (15).
Another 16 young people were there at the time of the incident and escaped with their lives. , but they recovered and remain linked to football.
Jhonata retired in September 2023 due to the consequences of the accident and holds a position in the Rubro-Negro scout department. Dyogo Alves is a goalkeeper and is part of the professional squad, while Cauan Emanuel plays for Maranguape, a club in the Second Division of the Cearense Championship.
See the full note from the Association of Relatives of Victims of the Ninho do Urubu Fire
The Association of Relatives of Victims of the Ninho do Urubu Fire (Afavinu), which brings together mothers, fathers, siblings and other family members of the ten fatal victims of the tragedy that occurred on February 8, 2019 in the accommodation at the Flamengo base, expresses its profound and irrevocable protest in the face of the decision handed down by the 36th Criminal Court of the District of the Capital of the State of Rio de Janeiro, which acquitted in the first instance all the seven accused in the criminal case resulting from this tragedy.
We understand that the role of Justice is not limited to applying the law in individual cases, but performs an essential pedagogical function in preventing new similar episodes, in sending a clear message to society that security negligence, failures in the technical structure and irresponsibility will not be tolerated — and not fulfilling this function constitutes, for us, a serious affront to the memory of the victims and the feelings of society as a whole.
Let us remember that the young people who died — teenagers in training, base athletes — slept in improvised containers, without adequate permits, with signs of electrical failure, window bars that made it difficult to leave, among other unsafe conditions.
The acquittal of the accused, on the grounds that it was not possible to individualize technical conduct or prove a criminally relevant causal link, renews in us the feeling of impunity and weakens the mechanism for protecting the lives and safety of minors in sports, training or assistance entities in the country.
AFAVINU will continue in search of Justice and in the hope that the decision will be reviewed and thus reiterates its request that the process be rigorously monitored by the appeal bodies so that society receives the message that such conduct will not go unpunished.
So that the death of these teenagers is not in vain, we will continue to demand from inspection bodies (municipal and state) and public authorities in general — including sports, youth and building inspection — the implementation of concrete measures to make frequent audits and preventive maintenance mandatory in accommodation for athletes, young people/minors in all clubs in the country, so that irreparable tragedies, such as the one at Ninho do Vulture, don’t repeat yourself.
We reaffirm that the memory of young people will not be silenced: their names, their lives cut short in avoidable circumstances, demand that we remain vigilant.
The judicial decision, by not recognizing criminal liability, represents a serious failure of the justice system in its pedagogical role — and as such, reinforces in us the duty of civil mobilization to strengthen the mechanisms of supervision, transparency and responsibility in spaces for training young people.
We call on the press, human rights organizations, sports movements and society as a whole not to allow this decision to become a precedent that the safety of children and adolescents can be treated with criminal negligence. The lives of our children have an irreparable value and in memory of the 10 innocent boys we will fight, until the end, for effective justice capable of inhibiting new crimes with sentences that protect the victims and not the perpetrators.
To Flamengo fans and everyone who loves football and children, AFAVINU makes an appeal: that the passion for the clubs also translates into a commitment to life. May the love for sport, which moves millions of hearts, also be a love for safety, ethics and the memory of those ten boys who dreamed of wearing, with pride, the red-black shirt or other sacred robes. True sportsmanship requires empathy, responsibility and humanity. Honoring these values means protecting future generations of athletes and ensuring that football continues to be a source of joy — never mourning.
October 21, 2025
Afavinu Board of Directors
(Association of Relatives of Victims of the Ninho do Urubu Fire)
