Flamengo soccer club president Rodolfo Landim, right, attends a mass in honor of the 10 teenage soccer players who were killed by a fire at the Flamen...
Flamengo soccer club president Rodolfo Landim, right, attends a mass in honor of the 10 teenage soccer players who were killed by a fire at the Flamengo training center last Friday, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. The victims were between 14 and 16 years old. Police are still investigating what caused the fire. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
An aerial view looks over the Flamengo soccer club training complex where an early morning fire left a number of people dead and injured in Rio de Jan...
An aerial view looks over the Flamengo soccer club training complex where an early morning fire left a number of people dead and injured in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Renato Spyrro)
Debris from the deadly fire at the Flamengo soccer club training complex litters the ground in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 8, 2019. A fire to...
Debris from the deadly fire at the Flamengo soccer club training complex litters the ground in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 8, 2019. A fire tore through the sleeping quarters of the Flamengo soccer club development league, one of Brazil's most popular professional soccer clubs, killing several people who were most likely players and injuring others, authorities said. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A statue of a vulture, the mascot symbol of Brazil's Flamengo soccer team, is seen atop the entrance of the soccer club training complex in Rio de Jan...
A statue of a vulture, the mascot symbol of Brazil's Flamengo soccer team, is seen atop the entrance of the soccer club training complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 8, 2019. A fire tore through the sleeping quarters of the Flamengo soccer club development league, one of Brazil's most popular professional soccer clubs, killing several people who were most likely players and injuring others, authorities said. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Flamengo's goalkeeper wears a jersey with the name of the young goalkeeper Christian, one of the 10 teenage players killed by a fire at the Flamengo t...
Flamengo's goalkeeper wears a jersey with the name of the young goalkeeper Christian, one of the 10 teenage players killed by a fire at the Flamengo training center last Friday, ahead of a soccer match between Flamengo and Fluminense, at the Maracana Stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Fans hold a giant photo of Gedson Santos, a teenaged soccer player who was killed in a fire at the Flamengo training center last Friday, at Maracana S...
Fans hold a giant photo of Gedson Santos, a teenaged soccer player who was killed in a fire at the Flamengo training center last Friday, at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019, ahead of a soccer match between Flamengo and Fluminense. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Friends and relatives carry the coffin that contain the remains of Samuel de Souza Rosa, one of the 10 young soccer players killed in a fire at the tr...
Friends and relatives carry the coffin that contain the remains of Samuel de Souza Rosa, one of the 10 young soccer players killed in a fire at the training ground of Brazilian soccer club Flamengo, during his funeral in Sao Joao de Meriti, Brazil, Monday, Feb. 11, 2019. The death of de Souza Rosa and his teammates has shed a tragic light on the state of shoddy infrastructure and lax oversight in Latin America's largest nation. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Friends and relatives of the late Christian Esmerio Candido embrace during his burial at a cemetery in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019. ...
Friends and relatives of the late Christian Esmerio Candido embrace during his burial at a cemetery in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019. Hundreds of grief-stricken people attended the funeral of the 15-year-old, one or 10 young soccer players killed in a fire at the training ground of Brazilian soccer club Flamengo on Friday. (AP Photo/C.H. Gardiner)
Friends grieve during the burial of the young soccer player Arthur Vinicius, one of the victims of a fire at a Brazilian soccer academy, in Volta Redo...
Friends grieve during the burial of the young soccer player Arthur Vinicius, one of the victims of a fire at a Brazilian soccer academy, in Volta Redonda, Brazil, Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019. A fire early Friday swept through the sleeping quarters of an academy for Brazil's popular professional soccer club Flamengo, killing several and injuring others, most likely teenage players, authorities said. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Flamengo fan Sonia Maria Mendes cries during a mass in honor for the 10 teenage soccer players who were killed by a fire at the Flamengo training cent...
Flamengo fan Sonia Maria Mendes cries during a mass in honor for the 10 teenage soccer players who were killed by a fire at the Flamengo training center last Friday, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Feb. 15, 2019. The victims were between 14 and 16 years old. Police are still investigating what caused the fire. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Within hours of a fire at soccer club Flamengo's training facility that would kill 10 teenage players, the club's president called it "the worst tragedy" in the team's 123-year history.
Soccer greats around the world expressed condolences, Rio de Janeiro's mayor declared three days of mourning and the club commemorated the boys during its latest home game. Club officials repeatedly said the fire was simply a question of bad luck.
But for at least four years before the blaze, the club flouted city and code regulations at the training facility, incurred numerous fines and was the target of a lawsuit by state prosecutors related to the treatment of its academy players and their living quarters, an Associated Press review of city documents and a lawsuit has found.
