Clube de Regatas do Flamengo have sacked head coach Filipe Luis following a run of disappointing results, with Portuguese manager Leonardo Jardim emerging as the club’s leading candidate to take charge ahead of the Carioca final.
The decision comes despite Flamengo’s emphatic 8-0 victory over Madureira in the Carioca semi-final. Filipe Luis, who had addressed the media at the Maracan after the win, was reportedly caught off guard by the news of his dismissal.
According to Globo.com, no formal justification was provided to the coach, and he had not been warned. The call to dismiss him was allegedly made before kick-off. Football director Jos Boto informed Filipe Luis in a brief meeting, with the squad already having left the stadium. The former coach is now expected to visit Ninho do Urubu to bid farewell to the players and staff.
The move was ordered by club president Luiz Eduardo Baptista, known as Bap, who had grown increasingly dissatisfied with the team’s early-season performances. Following defeats in the Brazilian Super Cup and the South American Super Cup, the board began weighing decisive action. Reports suggest Bap had already issued firmer demands to both players and coaching staff amid concerns over physical sharpness, technical inconsistency, and dressing-room unrest.
Filipe Luis had initially been appointed Flamengo head coach in 2023 after impressing within the club’s youth setup. He began his coaching journey with Flamengo’s under-17 side in March 2024 after retiring from professional football, winning the Copa Rio before guiding the under-20s to a world title in June. Promoted to the senior role on September 30 to replace Tite, he quickly delivered silverware, lifting the Copa do Brasil in 2024.
In 2025, Flamengo added the Supercopa do Brasil, the Campeonato Carioca and the Copa Libertadores to their trophy cabinet under his leadership. However, an Intercontinental final shootout defeat to Paris Saint-Germain and subsequent setbacks this season intensified scrutiny.
Despite having recently renewed his contract until 2027, relations between Filipe Luis, Bap and Boto reportedly became strained in recent months, with communication growing increasingly distant.
Flamengo have yet to confirm who will lead the team in Sunday’s Carioca final against Fluminense, but they are keen to finalise an appointment swiftly. Leonardo Jardim, who was already on the club president’s radar late last year and is currently in Brazil, is understood to be the frontrunner to take over at the Maracana.
