The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) enforced the request of the majority of the clubs and decided to suspend the Brasileirão for two dates due to the fatal floods in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The measure is completely logical given the humanitarian emergency, although It opens the question of how this affects an already tight schedule.
Specifically, dates 7 and 8 were postponed, which adds to the postponed matches that Grêmio, Inter and Juventude have in particular due to the rising water that flooded their training centers and stadiums. A situation of disparity, which led to 15 of the 20 teams that play in Serie A asking to stop the ball.
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The activity will resume in June and from there the schedule can begin to be put together so that everyone is up to date. However, the complexity of arranging the pieces is high in the face of international commitments such as the Copa América 2024, the Libertadores and the Sudamericana.
Após consultar os 20 clubes participantes da Série A do Campeonato Brasileiro e receber o pedido de 15 equipes pela suspensão da competição até o dia 27 de maio, a CBF reitera o compromisso público assumido de transparência e diálogo pela atual gestão e suspende as rodadas 7 e 8… pic.twitter.com/ods8qnLc21
— Brasileirão Betano (@Brasileirao) May 15, 2024
The return of the Intercontinental Cup this year adds a difficulty. The team that wins the Libertadores on November 30 must play against the CONCACAF representative in one round, before eventually playing a semifinal on December 14, which decides who will fight the tournament against the winner of the Champions League four days later.
A calendar already very close to the original end date of the Brasileirão, scheduled for December 8. Without official confirmation, this overlap of commitments suggests that extending the tournament to the beginning of 2025 may be very likely.
VOLTAMOS ÀS ATIVIDADES! 🇪🇪 Começando o primeiro dia de treinamento aqui no CT do Corinthians. pic.twitter.com/vY6sRYEhpO
— Grêmio FBPA (@Gremio) May 17, 2024
The CBF has already announced that if this happens, legal situations will have to be considered such as the contracts of the footballers and coaches that end at the end of 2024, renegotiations on broadcasting and sponsorships, agreements with the unions for a possible reduction of the players’ vacation period and see how this affects the 2025 calendar, also squeezed by the Club World Cup that will last a month, between June 15 and July 13, in the United States.
Remembering Zagallo
Sambafoot Series launched a new documentary about the football legend Zagallo. Known as ‘Velho Lobo‘ and as superstitious as it gets, Zagallo helped shape what Brazilian football is nowadays — as a player and as a coach.
Binge the first five episodes available on Sambafoot’s Youtube channel. Stay tuned for upcoming releases as we keep telling this legend’s life story.
