The Copa Joao Havelange was the 44th season of the Brazilian Série A . The championship was not organized by the national association CBF , but by the Clube dos 13 .
The clubs Botafogo FR and SC Internacional had successfully sued the sports court against game results due to irregularities. Due to the decision of the sports court, SE Gama should have been relegated . He then filed a lawsuit with a civil court and was given the right. The FIFA then insisted on excluding the SE Gama of the Brazilian Championship, because they had sued in a civil court. The CBF was therefore unable to organize the championship competition. This was then taken over by the Clube dos 13. The competition was named after João Havelange , the former chairman of the national football association CBF and chairman of FIFA.
Season course
Série A started its new season on July 29, 2000 and ended on January 18, 2001. All clubs that competed in leagues A, B and C in the 1999 season took part. The teams were divided into four groups:
the blue group with 25 clubs from the Série A
the yellow group with 36 clubs from Série B and C.
the green group with 28 clubs of the Série C
the white group with 27 clubs of the Série C.
During the competition, the clubs of the respective groups competed against each other to determine the sixteen participants in a final round. In this, the participants for the final were determined in a knockout round. The final was then played in two legs. The final table including the results from the knockout games was used to determine the qualification for the international competitions.
In the course of the first leg of the final there was an accident in the stadium. The game had to be abandoned and continued three days later.
In the group, the teams played eighteen against each other in two groups. The best teams in each case qualified for a knockout round in this group. The two finalists as well as the winner of the game for third place qualified for the final round.
In the groups, the teams played against each other in different groups until a winner from a final was determined. This qualified for the finals.
1. Round green and white
In the first round, the teams competed in groups of six to seven teams. The top three in each group qualified for the second elimination round in these groups.
Qualified for the 2nd round of the group elimination
2. Round groups green and white
In the second round, the teams competed in groups of four against each other. The first in the group and the two best second in the group qualified for the finals in these groups.
Qualified for the final round of the group elimination
Final round groups green and white
In the final round of the two groups, four teams each competed in two groups. The two group winners then played the group final in a two-legged manner. The winner of this final qualified for the overall finals.
In the 23rd minute there was an accident in the stadium. A fence gave in to the pressure of the fans behind it. As a result, 168 people were injured, three of them seriously. The referee wanted to whistle again two hours later. Governor Anthony Garotinho prohibited this and canceled the game. It was continued three days later on December 30th in the same stadium.
1-0 César (14th)
Esquerdinha (18th), Aílton Delfino (64th)
