Campeonato Brasileiro

From Freepedia

The Campeonato Brasileiro is the name for the Brazilian soccer league.

The competition was established in 1971 replacing two preceding national competitions, the Taça Brasil and the Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa. The Campeonato Brasileiro is also known in Brazil as The Brasileirão, which means "Big Brazilian".

It is composed of 3 divisions:

• Série A (First Division)
• Série B (Second Division)
• Série C (Third Division)

Série A

The Série A is the main division of Brazilian football. It's presently composed of 22 teams, but this number will be reduced to 20 teams in 2006.

From 2003 on, the Série A is disputed in a single stage. In other words, each team plays against each other home and away, and the team with most points is declared champion. There is no final match, what is a very controversial subject. Although some purists complain of this system due to the absence of finals, the championship is very balanced, with many teams alternating at the top positions over its course.

In 2005, each team will play 42 games, 21 home and 21 away, for a total of 462 games. The champion, runner-up, third placed team and fourth placed team win the right of representing Brazil in the Libertadores Cup, the most important South American championship. The champion, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th placed teams also win the right to represent Brazil in the Copa Sul Americana, another South American championship. The four last ranked teams (19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd) descend to next year's Série B.

Teams currently playing Série A

These are the 22 teams playing Série A in 2005:

Only 8 teams have always played the Série A championship, Atlético Mineiro, Corinthians, Cruzeiro, Flamengo, Internacional, Santos, São Paulo and Vasco da Gama. São Paulo, Santos and Corinthians did not play the Campeonato Brasileiro of 1979 alleging that it had too many teams, but as 1979's championship had no divisions (all teams disputed a single division), they were not removed from 1980's Série A.

Champions of Série A

Titles by team

• 5 titles: Flamengo⁽¹⁾
• 4 titles: Palmeiras, Vasco da Gama
• 3 titles: Corinthians, Internacional, São Paulo
• 2 titles: Grêmio, Santos
• 1 title: Atlético Mineiro, Atlético Paranaense, Bahia, Botafogo, Coritiba, Cruzeiro, Fluminense, Guarani, Sport⁽¹⁾

Titles by state

• Image:Br SP.GIF São Paulo 13 titles
• Image:Br RJ 2.png Rio de Janeiro 11 titles⁽¹⁾
• Image:Br-RS.png Rio Grande do Sul 5 titles
• Image:Br MG.png Minas Gerais 2 titles
• Image:Parana.jpg Paraná 2 titles
• Image:Br BA.png Bahia 1 title
• Image:Bandeira de Pernambuco.png Pernambuco 1 title⁽¹⁾

Série B

The Série B is the intermediate division of Brazilian football. It's presently composed of 22 teams, but this number will be reduced to 20 teams in 2006.

In 2005, the Série B will be composed of three rounds:

• In the first round, each team plays against every other, much like what happens in Série A. Differently from Série A, though, each team plays against the other only once. Thus, each team plays 21 games, 11 home and 10 away, for a total of 462 games.
• The eight best ranked teams advance to the second round, where they are divided in two groups of four. Teams in each group play against each other home and away.
• The two best ranked teams in each group advance to the final round. Those four teams are put in a single group, and play against each other home and away. The team with most points is declared champion.

The champion and runner-up of Série B win the right to dispute next year's Série A. In 2005, the six last ranked teams in the first round descend to next year's Série C.

Teams currently playing in Série B

These are the 22 teams playing Série B in 2005:

Champions of Série B

Titles by Team

• 2 titles: Paysandu
• 1 title: América Mineiro, Atlético Paranaense, Bragantino, Brasiliense, Campo Grande, Criciúma, Gama, Goiás, Guarani, Inter de Limeira, Juventude, Juventus, Londrina, Palmeiras, Paraná, Sampaio Corrêa, Sport, Tuna Luso, Uberlândia, União São João, Villa Nova

Titles by State

• Image:Br SP.GIF São Paulo 6 titles
• Image:Br MG.png Minas Gerais 3 titles
• Image:Br PA.png Pará 3 titles
• Image:Parana.jpg Paraná 3 titles
• Image:Br DF.png Distrito Federal 2 titles
• Image:Br GO small.png Goiás 1 title
• Image:Br MA.GIF Maranhão 1 title
• Image:Bandeira de Pernambuco.png Pernambuco 1 title
• Image:Br RJ 2.png Rio de Janeiro 1 title
• Image:Br-RS.png Rio Grande do Sul 1 title
• Image:Br-SC.png Santa Catarina 1 title

Série C

The Série C is the lowest division of Brazilian football. Any professional or semi-professional team can apply, but only 64 teams take part in the tournament. The teams that descended from Série B are joined by teams qualified for each state federation. Qualification rules vary, some federations use the state tournaments as qualification tournaments, others organize exclusive qualification tournaments to the Série C.

In 2005, the Série C will be composed of five rounds:

• In the first round, the 64 teams were divided in 16 groups of 4 teams each. These groups are regional, in other words, only teams from neighboring states can be in a same group. This is done so because many teams of the Série C are poor, and can't afford the expenses of a far travel to play in a distant state. Teams in each group play against each other in home and away games.
• The two best ranked teams of each group advance to the second round, where they are paired 2-by-2 and play home and away games. The teams are once again paired with teams of neighboring states.
• The team with most points in each pair advances to the third round. Those 16 teams are once again paired and play home and away games. The pairing tries not to pair teams of distant states, although this is sometimes not possible.
• Once again, the team with most points in each pair advances to the fourth round. Those 8 teams are once again paired to play home and away games.
• Finally, the team with nost points in each pair advances to the final round. The four teams are put in a single group, and play against each other in home and away games. The team with most points is declared champion.

To be champion of Série C in 2005, a team would have to play 18 games. The championship is composed of 260 games.

The champion and runner-up of Série C win the right to dispute next year's Série B.

Champions of Série C

Titles by Team

1 title: Atlético Goianiense, Avaí, Brasiliense, Etti Jundiaí (Paulista), Fluminense, Ituano, Novorizontino, Olaria, Sampaio Corrêa, Tuna Luso, União Barbarense, União São João, Vila Nova, XV de Piracicaba

Titles by State

• Image:Br SP.GIF São Paulo 6 titles
• Image:Br GO small.png Goiás 2 titles
• Image:Br RJ 2.png Rio de Janeiro 2 titles
• Image:Br DF.png Distrito Federal 1 title
• Image:Br MA.GIF Maranhão 1 title
• Image:Br PA.png Pará 1 title
• Image:Br-SC.png Santa Catarina 1 title

External links

• CBF Confederação Brasileira de Futebol - Brazilian Football Confederation
• RSSSF Brazil links