In the history of Brazilian football there has never been a Series B championship like the one that will happen in 2022.
With the relegation of Bahia, Grêmio and Sport from Série A this year, six national champions will be in the access division next season. Besides them, Guarani, Vasco and Cruzeiro, now managed by Ronaldo Fenômeno, will also be present. Together, the six have 14 Brazilian titles. A record for B.
The championship being fiercer (and attractive) is no consolation for those who fell and for the big ones who did not get access.
“In the last seven games, we’ve had five controversial moves. Only one was in our favor [contra o Cuiabá]. I don’t place the responsibility on arbitration, but there were mistakes. Bahia got used to seeing mysterious things in this championship [da Série A]”, says Guilherme Bellintani, president of Bahia, Brazilian champion in 1959 and 1988, and 17th in Serie A in 2021.
It’s the same frustration of someone who went down in 2020, expected to return immediately to the elite, and it didn’t happen.
“This year was a disaster. Everything went wrong for Vasco. From a football point of view, perhaps it was the worst year in history,” analyzed Jorge Salgado, president of the club that won the Brazilian Nationals in 1974, 1989, 1997 and 2000. The Rio team finished 10th in Serie B.
As there are four seats up for grabs, there is certainty that at least two former national champions will remain out of the main tournament for at least another year.
Until then, the greatest number of Serie A winners in the second division happened in 2021. There were five (Botafogo, Coritiba, Guarani, Vasco and Cruzeiro). Of these, Botafogo and Coritiba managed to climb. The record for national titles was in 2003, the first season of the points run era, when Palmeiras (10), Botafogo (2) and Sport (1) totaled 13 trophies.
“We cannot keep feeding the negative feeling of relegation. We are going to go up and change the face of Sport”, promised the president of the Pernambuco association, Yuri Romão.
The fall in Serie B represents, in addition to the pressures of non-conforming fans, a financial loss. The collection with just television rights can go from R$ 60 million to R$ 8 million. Not returning to the elite represents for Vasco, for example, a total loss of revenue of R$ 100 million.
Cruzeiro, on the other hand, has sunk even further into debt, currently estimated at around R$1 billion, and has now renewed hopes for a better future under Ronaldo’s administration.
The relegation of big players has become something normal, which also values the second division. From the beginning of the straight points formula, only in 2006 a Brazilian champion did not fall.
“Series A can be very difficult and it’s part [a queda]. Maybe in 2023 we’ll be back”, projects the president of Chapecoense, Gilson Sbeghen, the lantern of the elite in 2021.
Among the 20 clubs that will compete for the elite next season, only Flamengo, Santos and São Paulo were never relegated in the national league.
Before 2003, the Brazilian Championship had different formulas. It has already happened that a team in the same year left the second division to dispute the title of the first (São Caetano, in 2000). In different years, the classification took place through invitations distributed by the CBF or by its predecessor, the CBD. In 1979, there were 94 participants.
The first big one to fall was Grêmio, in 1991. This happened in the club’s history for the third time in 2021. The team was Brazilian champion in 1981 and 1996.
“We need to restructure and the process needs to be organized. Let’s see what we can have, what we’re going to count on, what we’re going to keep and what we’re going to rebuild,” says Grêmio president Romildo Bolzan Jr.
See, year after year, the Brazilian champions who competed in Serie B
2022
Bahia, Cruzeiro, Grêmio, Guarani, Sport and Vasco
Titles: 14
2021
Botafogo, Coritiba, Guarani, Vasco and Cruzeiro
Titles: 12
2020
Cruise and Guarani
Titles: 5
2019
Coritiba, Guarani and Sport
Titles: 3
2018
Coritiba and Guarani
Titles: 2
2017
International and Garani
Titles: 4
2016
Bahia and Vasco
Titles: 6
2015
Bahia and Botafogo
Titles: 4
2014
Basque
Titles: 4
2013
Palms and Sport
Titles: 11
2012
Athletico and Guarani
Titles: 2
2011
Guarani and Sports
Titles: 2
2010
Bahia, Coritiba and Sport
Titles: 4
2009
Bahia, Guarani and Vasco
Titles: 7
2008
Bahia and Corinthians
Titles: 9
2007
Coritiba
Titles: 1
2006
Coritiba, Guarani and Sport
Titles: 3
2005
Bahia, Grêmio, Guarani and Sport
Titles: 6
2004
Bahia and Sport
Titles: 3
2003
Botafogo, Palmeiras and Sport
Titles: 13
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