Copa União

The Copa União (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈkɔpɐ uˈnjɐ̃w], English: Union Cup) was an one-off competition in Brazilian football, held in 1987 in the absence of the conventional CBF national championship.

Background

In 1987, the CBF announced it had no financial conditions to organize the Brazilian football championship, a mere few weeks before it was scheduled to begin. As a result, the thirteen most popular football clubs in Brazil created a league, dubbed the Club of the 13, to organize a championship of their own. This tournament was called Copa União and was run by the 16 clubs that eventually took part in it (Santa Cruz, Coritiba and Goiás were invited to join), completely free from CBF authority (a move not unlike the creation of club-administered leagues in Europe).

The competition

The Copa União was a single round robin from which four teams would qualify for the semifinals. The Club of the 13 signed sponsoring contracts with Coca-Cola and Rede Globo, which guaranteed the clubs would be paid unprecedented rates for TV broadcasts.

The CBF initially agreed to granting the 1987 national title to the Copa União winners. However it eventually backed off due to pressure from smaller clubs, mainly the ones that were excluded from the championship, and also due to the prospect of forever losing control of the national championship. The CBF then announced, with the Copa União already taking place, that the national championship would be decided in a run-off between the two best teams of the Copa União and the two best teams of a tournament congregating smaller teams (which the CBF dubbed the "Yellow Module"). The move was rejected the Club of 13, which announced none of its members would take part in the play-off. Most of the media and the public opinion sided with the Club of 13.

The Copa União was a huge success both in terms of stadium attendance and TV audience, and also for the quality of football that was displayed. Having barely qualified for the semifinals, Flamengo went on to eliminate favorite Atlético Mineiro with two historic wins, 1-0 at the Estádio do Maracanã and 3-2 at the Mineirão. In the final round, the Rio de Janeiro side became the champions after a 1-1 draw in Porto Alegre and a 1-0 victory at the Maracanã over Internacional.

Among Flamengo's starting eleven that year, only one player, Aílton, has never played for the Brazilian national football team. The side consisted of such famous players as Zico, Bebeto, Jorginho, Zé Carlos (goalkepper), Leandro, Edinho, Leonardo, Andrade, Zinho and Renato Gaúcho, who was elected the best player in the tournament.

Consistent with the Club of 13 decision, both Flamengo and Internacional refused to face Sport Recife and Guarani -- who had agreed to share the Yellow Module title -- in the final play-off the CBF had convened. Since Flamengo and Internacional did not show up, the CBF championship finals consisted only of a rematch of the Yellow Module finals. In the first game, in Campinas, both teams tied 1-1. On February 7, 1988, Sport beat Guarani 1-0 and was declared the 1987 national champions by the CBF. Most of the media and the public opinion, however, did not give much credit to Sport's claim to the title, and considered Flamengo the Brazilian champions of that year.

The Club of 13 and the National Sports Council (CND), the entity legally in charge of settling the dispute at the time, before the 1988 Constitution, considered Flamengo to be the 1987 Brazilian Champions. The CBF, however, declared Sport to be the national champions, and the club, along with Guarani, represented Brazil in the 1988 Copa Libertadores de América. On the following judicial battle for legitimacy, Sport was judged the rightful 1987 national champions in a federal court.

Green Module

Yellow Module

See also

• Clube dos 13

References

External links

• RSSSF
• (Portuguese) "Copa União - Crisis, rebellion and treason" on Trivela.com
• Brazil - List of final tables (RSSSF)