System of regionalized association football competitions
Football league
State football leagues
Founded
1902
Country
Brazil
Confederation
CBF
Number of teams
Depends on the states
Level on pyramid
5–9
Promotion to
Copa do Nordeste (northeast) Copa Verde (north, center-west and Espírito Santo) Copa do Brasil Série D
Relegation to
Several state divisions
Grêmio vs. União Frederiquense for 2015 Campeonato Gaúcho
The Brazilian states football championships (Portuguese: Campeonatos Estaduais or simply Estaduais) are the professional adult male football competitions in Brazil that take place between January and April for the Northeast, Central-West, Southeast and South regions. In some states from the North Region, however, it takes place in May or June.[1][2] One such league, the Campeonato Paulista, which started in 1902, is the oldest football competition in Brazil.[3] All professional football clubs in Brazil play in a state championship, but not all qualify for the national league.
The state championships were the first professional competitions formed in Brazil, due economic and geographic reasons and especially long distances between the country's main cities and different states, each of the federative units of Brazil created their own football championship.[4] As such, state leagues were the main competition and even after the creation of a proper national championship in 1971 the state leagues remained prestigious and important for Brazilian fans up to the 1980s and 1990s, when national and continental competitions surpassed them in terms of relevance. Before the 1989 Campeonato Brasileiro, clubs qualified to the national league through their performances at their state's league.[5] Currently, state championships serve as a pre-season for the Brazilian championship and main season for smaller teams that are not in any national competitions.[1][2]
The state championships run as a parallel league to the main Brazilian Championships. Clubs compete in both Brazilian and state championships simultaneously, and each state league has its own format and divisions with promotion and relegation. Good standings in the tables qualify teams for the next year's Copa do Brasil,[6] regional tournaments Copa do Nordeste and Copa Verde, and teams without a national division qualify for the next year's Campeonato Brasileiro Série D.[7]
^ ab"MUDA, CALENDÁRIO: 'Fim dos estaduais se faz necessário'". Lance! (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved November 21, 2021.
^ ab"MUDA, CALENDÁRIO: 'Sem charme, Estaduais têm de ser repensados'". Lance! (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved November 21, 2021.
^"Como era São Paulo sem estádios de futebol". Estadão (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved July 12, 2023.
^Duarte, Orlando; Jairo Giovenardi (February 2, 2008). "O diferencial no futebol brasileiro" (in Portuguese). Diário de Sorocaba. Retrieved February 19, 2009.
^"A história do Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol – Ranking de Clubes Brasileiros". April 8, 2023. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
^Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Séries C e D do Brasileiro começam mais cedo em 2022 e mantêm quantidade de datas no calendário". ge (in Brazilian Portuguese). November 5, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
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