Football is the most popular sport in Brazil and a prominent part of the country’s national identity. The

Brazil national football team The Brazil national football team ( pt, Seleção Brasileira de Futebol), nicknamed ''Seleção Canarinho'' (‘Canary Squad’, after their bright yellow jersey), represents Brazil in men's international football and is administered by the B ...

has won the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

five times, the most of any team, in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, 1962, 1970,

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...

and 2002. Brazil and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

are the only teams to succeed in qualifying for all the World Cups for which they entered the qualifiers; Brazil is the only team to participate in every World Cup competition ever held. Brazil has also won an Olympic gold medal, at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

and at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

. Pelé won three World Cups (he was injured during most of the 1962 World Cup). Some of the most prominent players in football come from Brazil, including

Garrincha Manuel Francisco dos Santos (28 October 1933 – 20 January 1983), nicknamed Mané Garrincha, best known as simply Garrincha (, "little bird"), was a Brazilian professional footballer who played as a right winger. He is widely regarded as one o ...

, Cafu, Roberto Carlos, Romário, Rivaldo, Ronaldo Nazário,

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a winger. Wide ...

, Kaká, Neymar, Falcão (futsal player) in men's game and Marta in the women's game. The governing body of football in Brazil is the Brazilian Football Confederation.

History

Football was introduced to Brazil by Scottish immigrant

Thomas Donohoe Thomas Donohoe was a master dyer in the calico printing industry. Thomas emigrated to Brazil in 1894.

. The first football match played in Brazil was in April 1894, played on a pitch marked out by Donohoe next to his workplace in Bangu. In the 1870s, like many other British workers, a Scottish expatriate named John Miller worked on the railroad construction project in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

with other European immigrants. In 1884, Miller sent his ten-year-old son Charles William Miller to Bannister School in Southampton, England, to be educated. Charles was a skilled athlete who quickly picked up the game of football at the time when

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

was still being formed, and as an accomplished winger and striker Charles held school honors that gained him entry into the Southampton F.C. team, and later into the county team of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. In 1888, the first sports club was founded in the city, São Paulo Athletic Club. In 1892, while still in England, Charles was invited to play a game for Corinthian F.C., a team formed of players invited from public schools and universities. On his return to Brazil, Charles brought some football equipment and a rule book with him. He then taught the rules of the game to players in São Paulo. On December 14, 1901, the "Liga Paulista de Foot-Ball" was founded, organising its own championship, " Campeonato Paulista", first held in 1902. Therefore Campeonato Paulista became the oldest official competition in Brazilian football. São Paulo Athletic Club won the first three years' Paulista championships. Miller's skills were far above his colleagues at this stage. He was given the honor of contributing his name to a move involving a deft flick of the ball with the heel "Chaleira" (the "tea-pot"). The first match played by one of Miller's teams was six months after Donohoe's. Another competition, Campeonato Carioca, was first held in 1906 as the Rio de Janeiro State football championship, being contested up to present days. Corinthian fc brazil 1910

Charles Miller kept a strong bond with English football throughout his life. After a tour of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

team Corinthians F.C. to Brazil in 1910,

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author ...

was established on September 1, taking on the name of the British side after a suggestion from Miller. In 1913 there were two different editions of the Campeonato Paulista. One was organized by the Associação Paulista de Esportes Atléticos (APEA) while the other one was organized by the Liga Paulista de Foot-Ball (LPF). The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) was founded in 1914, but the current format for the Campeonato Brasileiro was only established in 1959. In 1988, Sport Club Corinthians Paulista celebrated playing the English side Corinthian-Casuals F.C at the Morumbi Stadium. The Casuals finished its tour by going against the local professional Sport Club Corinthians Paulista team, who counted the likes of

Sócrates Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira (19 February 1954 – 4 December 2011), simply known as Sócrates, was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. His medical degree and his political awareness, combined with st ...

and Rivelino amongst its roster, at Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo. To celebrate their shared history, Sócrates changed shirts to play alongside the English amateurs when the score was 1–0 in favor of the locals. This did not affect the score, however, although a largely-full stadium was cheering for a draw between the sides. From August 1941 through April 11, 1983, women's football was prohibited in Brazil. The law, created by the Conselho Nacional de Desportos, determined that "violent" sports such as football, rugby, and boxing were incompatible with women's capabilities. Despite the ban, women's teams continued to play informally for the next four decades, gaining increasing popular support through the 1970s and early 1980s. The movement to legalize women's football, which coincided with the feminist movement in Brazil at the time, contributed to the termination of the ban by the CND, which also cited rules set by the Union of European Football Associations in its decision. On September 29, 2007, it was announced that the CBF would launch a Women's Association Football league and cup competition in October 2007 following pressure from

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

president Sepp Blatter during the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China. In 2013, a year before the 2014 World Cup, hosted at home, Brazil's FIFA World Rank dropped to 22nd, an all-time-low position. During that tournament, Brazil made it to the semi-finals but were eliminated by Germany in a heavy 7–1 loss. In 2014, Brazil was one of the eight nations to take part in the first

Unity World Cup The Unity World Cup is an international football competition contested by Christian national men's teams. Its name, ''unity'', shows its will to ''unite'' the different Christians during a sports event. It is organized with the help of the John Pa ...

. The team played the opening game with notable players such as Beto, Fabio Luciano and Carlos Luciano da Silva. During the pandemic

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

, Brazil was one of the first countries to return to football activities in Latin America. Important to analyze a research published about the topic exploring the Serie A. The COVID-19 pandemic directly reached and impacted upon elite sports and caused the postponement of sporting events globally. In order to enable the return of activities, protocols were created with recommendations to prevent the transmission of COVID-19. The research analyzes and compares the safe return protocols of major football leagues and associations to those of the Brazilian Championship, as well as to survey the numbers of COVID-19 outbreaks in clubs that competed in the 2020 Brazilian Championship Series A.

Football culture

Football is a significant part of the Brazilian identity. It is considered the country’s most significant socio-cultural activity. In this way, football is not only a sport, but also an essential part of Brazil’s cultural identity. It is the most popular sport in Brazil, and Brazilians passion for the sport makes them often refer to their country as "o País do Futebol" ("the country of football"). Nevertheless, this was not always the case. Initially, when the English introduced football in Brazil, it was an elitist and racist sport. Most of Brazilian population was excluded from it, as it was a white, aristocratic sport, and most of the Brazilian population was mixed-race, illiterate, and low-income. As a result, the first established soccer clubs in Brazil had racial and income restrictions. This social and racial exclusion was a reflect of the biases of Brazilian society at the time. The sport started gaining popularity in the country a few years after the abolishment of slavery. In this period, discrimination and hierarchical structural marked the Brazil’s social structure, and prevented the integration of minorities into football. Nevertheless, even with the social and political barriers against racial and class inclusion in football, marginalized individuals started to enter the sport. These people fought the rigid discriminatory structures that were held in place and helped expand the sport beyond the aristocrat sectors of society. That lead to the increased popularization and democratization of football in the country. The integration of the sport in different segments of society marked the beginning of the Brazilian football identity. The sport became part of Brazilians daily life, and with time, it also became part of the popular culture. As the sport dominated the country, football clubs were increasingly pressured to include in their teams black and underprivileged players. That integration resulted in the transformation of the sport in the country, by changing the way players play and the way people interacted with football. The game that was initially restricted to the privileged elite was taken over by the masses and that altered the way people played, and fans interacted with the clubs. In this way, football served as an instrument of social and cultural change that helped partially overcome the exclusion and stigmatization that marked Brazilian society. That transformed the traditional gentlemanly form of the sport to the spontaneous one we recognize nowadays. The populist spirit of Brazilian football challenged the outdated socials norms that were held in place. As the sport became increasingly popular around the country, its spirit was incorporated into Brazilian identity and challenged the political dominance of that time. The biggest evidence of the importance that football has on Brazilian culture is the World Cup. Every four years, Brazilians dominate the streets, cheering and celebrating their country. The sport brings people together and promote a collective identity. In a society that is still extremely segregated by race and class, these moments of collective union are essential to the formation and maintenance of a national identity. Nowadays, it is indisputable the major effect football has on Brazilian culture. It is the favorite pastime of youngsters and adults who frequently watch and play the sport. The influence of the sport is so significant that critics argue that political parties try to take advantage of the nationalistic surge created by football and bring it into politics.

Football style

Brazil plays a very unfundamental and distinctive style. For example, dribbling is an essential part of their style. Many people criticized former head coach Dunga because of the pragmatist, fundamental, defensive-minded style he brought to Brazil. After Brazil's failure at the

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, Dunga was fired and Mano Menezes became the head coach. With the aid of young talents such as Neymar, Lucas Moura, Paulo Henrique Ganso, Oscar and more, Brazil strives to return to its creative style. The great exodus of players in recent years to European competitions is scene of much debate in the country, especially about the consequences that this would generate in the style of Brazilian football.

Race and football

Historical background

Race appears as a prominent issue in discussing football in Brazil. Individual's socioeconomic status, ethnic identities, and family backgrounds—key components that closely tied with race in Brazil—were heavily involved throughout the development of the sport
Gregg Bocketti
a professor of history at Transylvania University, presents how football incorporated participant's racial identities during the process of expanding the sport across the country in his book—'' The Invention of The Beautiful Game: Football and the Making of Modern Brazil''. According to the author, Football was first introduced in Brazil as a European sport that exclusively favored white males with social and economic privileges. Charles Miller, a Brazilian-born male of Scottish descent who learned to play the sport while attending boarding school in Southampton, championed this persistent hierarchy within the sport, and further promoted his idea through recruiting members of the British expatriate São Paulo Athletic Club and his Brazilian acquaintances to take charge of the game. Moreover, Miller's vision perceived football as an effective tool to "improve Brazil according to a European standard…and was infused by Eurocentrism and social exclusivity." Above all, football functioned as an integral component in the "high life among the urban upper classes" during the late nineteenth century Brazil. Throughout the early twentieth century, racial exclusivity continued to exist yet with major changes in the sport's perception on racial minorities. Under the Vargas regime, football expanded its scope of participants. During the 1930s,

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1954. Due to his long and controversial tenure as Brazi ...

, former President of Brazil, issued policies that promoted nationalism across the nation in which football served as an effective tool in unifying the people of Brazil as a single race. This allowed the Brazilian national team to compete in international games overseas during which the administrators believed the team should be "represented by its best players, regardless of their backgrounds." Many non-white soccer players from the working class demonstrated their skills and talents at publicly recognized games. Mario Filho, a writer for the Journal dos Sports in 1936, commented that "in football there was not even the merest shadow of racism." In contrast, Bocketti argues Filho's statement lacked in understanding "the reality that traditional hierarchies and traditional exclusions" were deeply embedded throughout the 1930s. This was true because football clubs in Brazil were still organized and managed by privileged white administrators with wealthy backgrounds who established football amateurism to increase exclusivity among participants during the 1930s and 1940s.

Racial discrimination

Although non-white footballers had the opportunity to participate in a higher level of football, racial discrimination remains a serious problem in the Brazilian football communities. Before football in Brazil became a nationalized and popularized sport with participants from various racial, ethnic, and social backgrounds, the sport "advertised Brazil as white and cosmopolitan," which important political figures considered individual's race, class, and region in building representative sides. In relation to racial hierarchy, Bocketti argues that the Europeans perceived non-white soccer players as inferior and considered racial minorities’ participation in football as physical labor and exclusive for lower class. In the early twentieth century, prestigious football clubs in Rio de Janeiro prohibited non-white players to compete in the league tournaments. This trivialization continues throughout modern day society in which non-white soccer players are portrayed as inherently inferior. For example, various media reports reveal that non-white Brazilian soccer participants still experience racial discrimination. Neymar Junior, in his interview, shared his confrontations with coaches and fans for calling him a monkey. Similarly, non-white soccer players are often referred as a monkey to degrade their identities based on their race. Moreover, Aranha, a goalkeeper for the Paulista club, was targeted for racist abuse from the audiences, and so was

Dida In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Diploma in Digital Applications (DiDA) is an optional information and communication technology (ICT) course, usually studied by Key Stage 4 or equivalent school students (aged 14-16). DiDA was intr ...

, a former goalkeeper for the Brazilian national team, and Marcio Chagas da Silva. In 2014, twelve incidents of racial discrimination were reported from soccer matches in Brazil.

Racial mobilization

For non-white football players, their social privilege and acknowledgement acquired through football allowed them to practice racial mobility despite their original heritage. In the 1930s, nationalization of football allowed non-white football players to experience social mobilization. However, professionalization of football in the early twentieth century Brazil strictly prioritized individuals with affluent backgrounds. Thus, non-white football players, after ascending their socioeconomic status, were accustomed to an exclusive environment in which the members were politically, socially, and economically influential. For instance, Arthur Friedenreich, a Brazilian football player with African and European heritage, experienced the upward social mobility during the 1910s through demonstrating his skills in football. However, he did not categorize himself as non-white but rather preferred to be identified as white because it was the color that was "traditionally accepted by Brazilian elites." Moreover, worldly renown football stars in the contemporary society such as Roberto Carlos,

Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: As ...

, and Neymar Jr. refused to be racially identified as black but rather as white. It is impossible to trace and beg the question of these players’ true intentions. Unlike the issues non-whites soccer players face for their statements,

Kaka Kaka may refer to: People Nickname or given name Sports * Carlos Augusto dos Santos da Silva (born 1987), Brazil-born Italy international futsal player * Kaká (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite * Kaká (footballe ...

, a white Brazilian football star, is portrayed as a sincere Christian and devoted father with no internal or external conflicts regarding his race. In contrast, those who characterizes their race differently are depicted as a betrayer and unfaithful person. According to ''The Times of India'', anthropologists and sociologists conducted research to demonstrate that racial minorities in Brazil tend to undergo upward mobilization to segregate themselves from underprivileged and underdeveloped environment. Football stars, in this context, showed similar process which they prefer to be identified as powerful figures through categorizing themselves as white. For example, in writing about Arthur Friedenreich, Mário Filho wrote that "the black man in Brazil does not want to be black," and therefore many Brazilians "did not believe black men should represent the nation." Football Brazil

Brazilian football in television

Football is broadcast in television in the following channels:

Free television

Rede Globo TV Globo (, "Globe TV", or simply Globo), formerly known as Rede Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Grupo Globo. The TV stati ...

— Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Campeonato Brasileiro Série B,

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de P ...

, Supercopa do Brasil, Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, Copa América,

, FIFA Women's World Cup, FIFA Club World Cup,

UEFA Euro The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition is conte ...

FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL) The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are held ...

, Campeonato Paulista,

Campeonato Mineiro Campeonato Mineiro is the state football league of the state of Minas Gerais and is controlled by the Minas Gerais Football Federation FMF (Federação Mineira de Futebol). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: befor ...

, Campeonato Gaúcho, Campeonato Catarinense, Campeonato Pernambucano,

Campeonato Goiano The Campeonato Goiano is the football league of the state of Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas ...

, Campeonato Mato-Grossense. *

SBT sbt is an open-source build tool for Scala and Java projects, similar to Apache's Maven and Gradle. Its main features are: *Native support for compiling Scala code and integrating with many Scala test frameworks *Continuous compilation, te ...

— Copa Libertadores, Copa do Nordeste, Campeonato Paranaense, Campeonato Piauiense,

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

. * RecordTV / Record News — Campeonato Carioca,

Campeonato Sergipano The Campeonato Sergipano is the state football league of Sergipe, Brazil. Format During the 2022 season, The tournament is divided in three stages. In the 1st round, 10 clubs were split in 2 groups of 5 teams in each. The teams played 2 match ...

. * Band — Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, Campeonato Brasileiro Feminino, Campeonato Brasileiro U-20, Copa do Brasil U-20,

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footb ...

, DFL-Supercup, Russian Premier League, Campeonato Alagoano,

Campeonato Potiguar The Campeonato Potiguar is the football league of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Format First Division First stage: standard round-robin, in which all teams play each other once. Second stage: home-and-away playoff The playof ...

. * TV Cultura — Copa Verde,

Campeonato Paraense The Campeonato Paraense, nicknamed Parazão, is the top flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of Pará Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian ...

. * TV Brasil — Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, Copa Verde. * TVE Bahia —

Campeonato Baiano The Campeonato Baiano is the football league of the state of Bahia, Brazil. The championship has been played since 1905 without interruption. 2020 format First stage: 10 teams are included in one group, playing once only against all teams in ...

. * Facebook Watch (

Streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...

) — Copa Libertadores,

, UEFA Super Cup. *

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

(

) — UEFA Nations League, Copa do Nordeste, Campeonato Carioca,

. *

OneFootball OneFootball is a platform-based football media company. The OneFootball app features live-scores, statistics and news from 200 leagues in 12 different languages covered by a newsroom located in Berlin. In 2019, OneFootball partnered up with El ...

(

) —

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

, Ligue 1, Austrian Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League qualifying, UEFA Europa League qualifying.

Paid television

* SporTV — Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, Campeonato Brasileiro U-20,

, Copa do Brasil U-20, Copa do Brasil U-17, Supercopa do Brasil, Florida Cup, Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, Taça BH,

, Taça de Portugal, Copa América,

U-20 South American Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American f ...

, FIFA Women's World Cup, FIFA U-20 World Cup,

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédératio ...

, FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, FIFA Club World Cup,

, Campeonato Paulista, Campeonato Paulista Série A2, Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Feminino,

, Campeonato Gaúcho, Campeonato Pernambucano. *

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

/ ESPN Brasil — Campeonato Brasileiro Feminino,

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

, UEFA Women's Champions League,

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Banco Santander, Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaL ...

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

Copa de la Reina Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Computer Operator Programming Assistant. trade of ITI * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Asso ...

Supercopa de España Femenina The Supercopa de España Femenina or the ''Spanish Women's Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football, contested by the winners and runners up of the Copa de la Reina and the remaining highest ranked teams from the Primera Divisi� ...

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

, EFL Championship, EFL Cup,

Women's FA Community Shield The Women's FA Community Shield is an association football match in England. It is a national super cup, and the equivalent of the FA Community Shield in male football. It is the first competitive match of the football season. The match is com ...

, DFB-Pokal,

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is ...

, Primeira Liga,

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

, J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship, Major League Soccer, U.S. Open Cup, Audi Cup, Joan Gamper Trophy, UEFA Champions League qualifying. * Fox Sports Brasil –

, Copa Libertadores, Coupe de France, Copa do Nordeste,

, EFL Championship,

, DFB-Pokal, Primeira Liga,

. * TNT Sports ( TNT /

Space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consi ...

) — Campeonato Brasileiro Série A,

, UEFA Nations League, UEFA Euro qualifying. *

BandSports BandSports is a Brazilian cable television network that has its programming based on all sports, launched in 2002 by Grupo Bandeirantes de Comunicação. Sports Programming Athletics * Diamond League * European Athletics Championship Bask ...

—

, Russian Premier League,

Copa Paulista The Copa Paulista de Futebol, formerly known as Copa FPF, also sometimes called Copa Federação Paulista de Futebol or, in English, São Paulo State Cup, is a tournament organized by Federação Paulista de Futebol Company every second half of ...

. * Premiere ( Pay-per-view) — Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Campeonato Brasileiro Série B,

, Campeonato Paulista,

, Campeonato Gaúcho, Campeonato Pernambucano. * Conmebol TV ( Pay-per-view) — Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, Recopa Sudamericana. * FERJ TV ( Pay-per-view) — Campeonato Carioca. * Copa do Nordeste ( Pay-per-view) — Copa do Nordeste. * DAZN (

) — Campeonato Brasileiro Série C,

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

, FA Community Shield,

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

, Supercoppa Italiana,

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

, Major League Soccer, Liga MX, Africa Cup of Nations, CONCACAF Gold Cup. * Estádio TNT Sports (

) — Campeonato Brasileiro Série A,

, UEFA Nations League,

FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are held ...

, UEFA Euro qualifying. * PlayPlus / R7.com (

) — Campeonato Carioca. * Nordeste FC (

) — Copa do Nordeste,

Campeonato Cearense The Campeonato Cearense is the football league of the state of Ceará, Brazil. Format The Campeonato Cearense has three divisions with the following division and format (as in any other Brazilian soccer championship, the format can change eve ...

. * Paulistão Play (

) — Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, Campeonato Paulista Série A2, Campeonato Paulista Série A3, Campeonato Paulista Segunda Divisão, Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Feminino,

* TV Walter Abrahão — Campeonato Catarinense.

League system

Brazilian football clubs are affiliate to their state federations and state federations are themselves federate to Brazilian Football Confederation. As such, each state has its own league pyramid (see State Championships), Campeonato Paulista (the oldest and most traditional), Campeonato Carioca,

, Campeonato Gaúcho being the most prominent. There's a parallel federal pyramid. That means each club plays its state championships and only some biggest clubs play on the federal championships. Those two systems run in parallel there's no direct rank or relegation-promotion from one to the other besides state federations being responsible for appointing one to four clubs each to form each year Campeonato Brasileiro Série D. Each state set its own rule for those appointments but it's usually done through best position of the clubs on the top state tier that does not play any federal league or by a qualifying tournament, e.g.

is a tournament to select the fourth qualified from

São Paulo (state) São Paulo () is one of the 26 states of the Federative Republic of Brazil and is named after Saint Paul of Tarsus. A major industrial complex, the state has 21.9% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 33.9% of Brazil's GDP. São Pa ...

to Série D. The federal system is composed of four tiers: * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A - 20 clubs (relegates 4 to Série B) * Campeonato Brasileiro Série B - 20 clubs (relegates 4 to Série C, promotes 4 to Série A) * Campeonato Brasileiro Série C - 20 clubs (relegates 4 to Série D, promotes 4 to Série B) * Campeonato Brasileiro Série D - 68 clubs (promotes 4 to Série C, other 64 demised). Despite the 4 relegated from last year Série C, all other 64 spots are designated by state federations by their own criteria. State top tiers run from January to April and federal leagues from May to December, so clubs on federal leagues can handle their state schedule without conflict. Lower state tiers run from February to November. Although uncommon it's possible for a 'big' club to be relegated to its state second tier league while still playing a federal league. It happened for instance to Criciúma who was relegated to 2022

Campeonato Catarinense Série B The Campeonato Catarinense Série B is the second tier of football league of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Participants ''2022 edition'' List of champions Segunda Divisão Divisão Intermediária Série B Notes *Caçadore ...

, the second tier league on Santa Catarina pyramid, while still playing Campeonato Brasileiro Série B. They resolved the problem of schedule conflict fielding a junior team in 2022 Campeonasto Catarinense Série B. Many of the states championships have their own promotion/relegation system.

References

{{Football in South America