Lawyers Fight Over Who Won a Match Already Played

Goalkeeper Fernando Muslera saved Estudiantes de La Plata into the Copa Libertadores final at the Maracanã, and by the time the penalties were done, the result was 3-2 on the pitch. Whether it's 3-0 for Flamengo in a conference room is still undecided. That's what the sport looks like when the people running it hold the pen.

Who Has the Power

The dispute centers on one player, 36-year-old defender Marcos Rojo, who signed with Estudiantes at the start of the month and was registered for the Argentine championship in place of the injured Gabriel Neves. CONMEBOL rejected the registration for the Libertadores because Neves' recovery period didn't meet its criteria. Estudiantes appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS), which accepted the appeal and cleared Rojo to play. He started and went 75 minutes in a scoreless draw at the Maracanã.

Both legs ended 0-0. Estudiantes won the shoot-out 3-2 against Flamengo, the most recent champion. La Nación described Muslera's performance as brilliant. The players did their part. The paperwork hasn't finished doing its part.

Flamengo lodged its complaint with CONMEBOL inside the 24-hour window the rules set after the match, then appealed the TAS decision. The club's reading of the regulations: Flamengo would be declared winner 3-0 and advance automatically to face Palmeiras. It cites 2018, when CONMEBOL awarded Independiente a 3-0 loss to Santos over the irregular fielding of midfielder Carlos Sánchez. Santos had drawn 0-0 twice with Independiente and went through anyway, on a ruling.

What They're Calling Order

Early this week Flamengo filed two petitions with the TAS and CONMEBOL: one to suspend the Estudiantes–Palmeiras match, one to suspend ticket sales. CONMEBOL rejected the attempt and announced it had rejected Flamengo's appeal. Then, the same day, it opened presale of tickets for the final. Order, apparently, means the cash register keeps ringing while the arbitration drags on.

CONMEBOL also opposed Rojo's lineup, yet complied with the higher body's ruling. So the confederation fought the signing, lost, sold tickets anyway, and confirmed Estudiantes' qualification. Nobody at the top needed to be right. They needed to be unaccountable.

Flamengo then scaled back, asking the TAS to withdraw the request to suspend the match while keeping the ticket-sales request. At a Board meeting on Wednesday, Flamengo president Luiz Eduardo Baptista said CONMEBOL's decision was unfair but that few avenues of action remain. The mood inside the club is pessimistic about an unexpected turn. Still, Flamengo won't withdraw from the Rojo case. When Estudiantes asked the TAS to allow Rojo, it named all semi-final participants: Flamengo, Fluminense and Palmeiras.

Who Gets Crushed

No date has been set for the definitive TAS ruling. Only that decision, if it comes in time, could change the final. It remains to be seen whether the ruling will allow Rojo to play in Montevideo. The players, the fans holding presale tickets, the supporters planning trips for a match 28 days out: all of them wait on a tribunal that answers to no schedule but its own.

Estudiantes' path was earned on grass. They finished second in Group A behind Flamengo, eliminated Universidad Católica 4-1 in the round of 16, and beat Corinthians in the quarter-finals, winning 1-0 late in Brazil and drawing 1-1 in Argentina. Palmeiras beat Fluminense on penalties in the other semi-final. The final is a single match on Saturday, November 28, at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, kicking off at 17:00 Argentina time.

The club is chasing a fifth Libertadores, after titles in 1968, 1969, 1970 and 2009. The first, 58 years ago, was decided against Palmeiras at the Centenario. The last came 17 years ago, in 2009, when they beat Cruzeiro 2-1 on aggregate. Estudiantes would be the first non-Brazilian champion since River beat Boca in the 2018 final. Flamengo, Palmeiras and Botafogo have split the seven titles since.

Until a panel somewhere issues its ruling, those who bled for ninety minutes plus penalties don't know if the result they earned will stand.