Sunday's rivalry game between Rio de Janeiro football clubs Flamengo and Fluminense "helped soften the financial problems" that Flamengo is facing, according to Lucas Tieppo of UOL.com.br. The income generated by the game was enough for Flamengo to rid itself of a R$13M ($6.4M) debt with ticketing company BWA. For the first time in "about two-and-a-half years," Flamengo will be able to pocket the income of their next game. The loan had been taken on by the previous administrations, and current club President Patricia Amorim began payment in early '10. The form of payment was via the "confiscation" of income from the team's games. Practically "everything that was collected" was going straight to the company, who continues as a partner of the club in the marketing of tickets. Members of the current management team have "criticized the way in which the debt was acquired" by the previous administration. The current administration was forced to give the game's income as a guarantee of payment to BWA and therefore "received nothing in more than 160 games" since they took over. The club still will not be able to "receive the full income" from their next match against Bahia due to an agreement with the Regional Employment Court, which states that 20% of the ticket income "is intended for the payment" of labor debts (UOL.com.br, 7/11).
