The disciplinary commission of South American football confederation Conmebol has dismissed Flamengo's protest over the alleged improper registration of Estudiantes defender Marcos Rojo, according to UOL. The ruling, issued on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, leaves the Argentine club in the Copa Libertadores final, where it will face Palmeiras.
The complaint concerned Rojo's appearance in the second leg of the semi-final between the two clubs on 22 October 2026. Flamengo filed its protest the following day, on 23 October. In a statement quoted in the reporting, the commission said it rejected the Flamengo complaint in full.
Why it matters
The decision settles, at least for now, the lineup of South America's biggest club match. Estudiantes held Flamengo to a 0-0 draw at the Maracanã with Rojo on the pitch and advanced on penalties. The final is scheduled for 28 November in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Palmeiras — named in the wider dispute — will be the opponent.
The case also touches on how player eligibility is governed across the continent. At its centre is a question of which body has the final say over whether a footballer is cleared to play: the national association or the confederation running the competition.
How the dispute developed
Rojo's move to Estudiantes was announced days before the first leg of the semi-final. Conmebol then refused to register him for the Libertadores shortly before that match, and he did not feature in Argentina. Estudiantes had asked to add him to its Libertadores squad in place of the injured Gabriel Neves.
According to the reporting, Conmebol's grounds for the refusal were that Rojo had been announced after the transfer window in Argentina had closed, and that he had recently played for Racing, which competes in the Copa Sudamericana.
Estudiantes took the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which granted an interim measure allowing him to be registered for the return leg. Rojo played in that game. The Argentine club's central argument, accepted by the CAS for the interim ruling, was that Conmebol's own regulations leave it to each national association to determine whether a player is eligible. The AFA, Argentina's football association, had certified that Rojo was cleared to play.
Flamengo then appealed to Conmebol and sought precautionary measures. Those were turned down on Wednesday on the basis that, with the CAS interim ruling in place, Rojo was regarded as properly registered and eligible at the time of the match.
The CAS has yet to rule on whether the registration was in fact irregular. If it finds that it was, any sanctions would apply to future matches rather than altering results already recorded. Rojo, for instance, could be barred from the final in the event of an adverse finding.
What to watch
The CAS has still to deliver its full judgment on the registration, and its outcome could affect Rojo's availability for the Montevideo final on 28 November.
