If I told it was not like this how surprised would you be. If I told you the problem
was TV, politics and bureaucracy, how un-surprised would you be.
State of Play
The Brasillian Football Federation makes the “57 old farts” of the RFU look like radical visionaries. Like the counties in the FA of old, power in the CBF lies with the states, many of which have nothing to offer the game. The powerhouses of Brasillian Football are Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Rio Grande du Sul, home to Gremio and Internacional of Porto Alegre. But every state, and their teams, have “political” influence. So the season starts with the largely irrelevant “State” Championships. In many there is one Liverpool, and a host of Southports! In Rio, Flamengo, Vasco, Botofogo and Fluminese have won all but 11 state titles, but have to play; Boavista, Macae, Cabofriense, Tigres, Americano, Mesquita, Resende, Duque de Caxias and Bangu, etc. etc. Predictably these games are of little interest, and big teams often field reserve players, devaluing the product still further.
So small were the crowds that sides like Vasco would rather play in a less than half-full Sao Januario stadium (18,000 capacity) than rent the then 160,000 capacity Maracana
Bangu Prove to be a big attraction again
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The Campeonato Brasilleiro is not immune. Even when the league ran smoothly, TV’s demands meant that fixtures were all over the place and friends often didn’t know when games might take place, and where. Attendances, in huge stadiums, average 17,000 and only Belo Horizonte’s Atletico and the Rio giants Flamengo draw anything like premier league crowds. Every game is on TV, Satellite, Pay per view, or easily obtainable pirate satellite. Many of the stadiums are hard to get to, most of them were not modern, there were fights at many games, and you couldn’t get a beer.
TV rules the roost, so the championship decider, was usually a two leg tie, requiring a third game if each team won one match, regardless of the aggregate score – which “somehow” always happened.
The Big Match
As for the actual games; Easter 91 at the Maracana - the area is an iffy proposition, think Millwall in a bad mood – for the Rio derby, Flamengo v Fluminese. With 48,000 fans in the stadium, it was…. …like an agoraphobia workshop, there was no one within 10 yards us. Still, it was fun watching the referee patiently waiting for the TV and Radio interviews to finish, pre-match, at both ends of the half-time break, and even while the substituted player to leaves the pitch. Tragically a year later part of the stadium collapsed, killing three fans, injuring many more, and it was redeveloped from the 200,000 capacity monster, to a 90,000 all-seater venue by the end of the decade
In the middle tier at Sao Paulo’s Morumbi stadium for the 1999 Championship decider, Corinthians v Atletico Mineiro. Transfixed by the colour, the smoke, the atmosphere, and the noise that sounded like a tube train running overhead, until my brother-in-law told me it was the sound of all the fans jumping up and down causing the structure to vibrate.
The Big Match
As for the actual games; Easter 91 at the Maracana - the area is an iffy proposition, think Millwall in a bad mood – for the Rio derby, Flamengo v Fluminese. With 48,000 fans in the stadium, it was…. …like an agoraphobia workshop, there was no one within 10 yards us. Still, it was fun watching the referee patiently waiting for the TV and Radio interviews to finish, pre-match, at both ends of the half-time break, and even while the substituted player to leaves the pitch. Tragically a year later part of the stadium collapsed, killing three fans, injuring many more, and it was redeveloped from the 200,000 capacity monster, to a 90,000 all-seater venue by the end of the decade
In the middle tier at Sao Paulo’s Morumbi stadium for the 1999 Championship decider, Corinthians v Atletico Mineiro. Transfixed by the colour, the smoke, the atmosphere, and the noise that sounded like a tube train running overhead, until my brother-in-law told me it was the sound of all the fans jumping up and down causing the structure to vibrate.
This was in retrospect even more worrying when I learned that Brasillian fans “recycle” their many cups of “cafezinho” a highly potent type of expresso, in the corridors, stairs, concourses, really anywhere, except the toilets of the stadium, and this was causing the concrete to decay!
Village Football
By 2014 there will be much improvement to stadiums and infrastructure. Perhaps most importantly a TGV style railway linking Rio, Sao Paulo and Campinas, ending the choice of a 7 hour coach trip, complete with the occasional hi-jacking, or a very expensive shuttle flight.
In common with the 2018 bid here, three host cities have no major Club, the capital Brasillia has never had a top flight team. Cuiaba the small city (500,000) in Mato Grosso has spent two decades without
1st Division football, and 900 miles inland on the banks of the Amazon is Manaus, where the biggest club Nacional has not been in the Campeonato Brasilleiro since 1984.
Being, by marriage at least, a Santista, I was able to witness two titles in three years, 2002 and 2004 for the “Village Boys” team that featured Alex, Robinho, Diego, and Elano. So it is sad, if understandable, that the location and redevelopment difficulties mean tthe Vila Belmiro, my most visited venue, will not see any games in 2014.
The sporting home for 17 years of Pele and of Santos today, is a sad absentee from the list of host grounds.
Village Football
By 2014 there will be much improvement to stadiums and infrastructure. Perhaps most importantly a TGV style railway linking Rio, Sao Paulo and Campinas, ending the choice of a 7 hour coach trip, complete with the occasional hi-jacking, or a very expensive shuttle flight.
In common with the 2018 bid here, three host cities have no major Club, the capital Brasillia has never had a top flight team. Cuiaba the small city (500,000) in Mato Grosso has spent two decades without
1st Division football, and 900 miles inland on the banks of the Amazon is Manaus, where the biggest club Nacional has not been in the Campeonato Brasilleiro since 1984.
Being, by marriage at least, a Santista, I was able to witness two titles in three years, 2002 and 2004 for the “Village Boys” team that featured Alex, Robinho, Diego, and Elano. So it is sad, if understandable, that the location and redevelopment difficulties mean tthe Vila Belmiro, my most visited venue, will not see any games in 2014.
The sporting home for 17 years of Pele and of Santos today, is a sad absentee from the list of host grounds.
