After the defeat of Fluminense against LDU (EQU) by 1-0, Felipe Melo spoke out. The Fluminense captain criticized the scheduling of derbies between the Recopa matches. However, whether through unfamiliarity of the veteran or not, the request for matches against Vasco, Flamengo, and Botafogo to be scheduled later in the state championship was actually made by Fluminense themselves. President Mário Bittencourt explained:
‘I saw many people this week criticizing the Rio de Janeiro Federation for having a Fla-Flu derby between the two Recopa matches. The Federation does not deserve criticism at this moment for that. It was a request made by Fluminense themselves for a change in the regulations so that the first team would be required to play from the sixth round and our derbies would be scheduled later. We would play with young players at the beginning of the Carioca and we felt it was unfair to play the derbies at the start of the championship when we wouldn’t have our full strength.’