The 2000 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (officially the Copa João Havelange) was the 44th edition of the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

, the top-level of professional football in Brazil. Due to legal complications, the championship was organized by

Clube dos 13 Clube dos 13 (Club of the 13) was the organization responsible for representing the interest of the most powerful football clubs of Brazil, including members from several football state federations such as Federação Paulista de Futebol, Federaç ...

instead of CBF, and was contested by 116 teams divided in modules, equivalent to their division—similar to the 1987

Copa União The Copa União (Union Cup) had two modules: The Green and The Yellow. The Green was won by Flamengo. The Yellow was won by Sport Recife. According to the championship rules, the winners of both modules should play with the runner-up of the oppos ...

. It started on July 29 and ended on January 18, 2001, with

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

winning the championship—its fourth title. The name of the championship was an homage to former CBF and

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

president

João Havelange Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid "João" de Havelange (, ; 8 May 1916 – 16 August 2016) was a Brazilian lawyer, businessman, athlete and centenarian who served as the seventh president of FIFA from 1974 to 1998. His tenure as president is the ...

Background

The formula of

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

of the 1999 Brasileirão was based on the average points between

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

and 1999. But due to a decision of the Supreme Court of Sporting Justice (STJD) of removing points from

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, who played against

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

and

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonat ...

with an irregular player,

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

team SE Gama was going to dispute Série B instead of Botafogo. Gama refused the relegation and, supported by the

Distrito Federal A federal district is a type of administrative division of a federation, usually under the direct control of a federal government and organized sometimes with a single municipal body. Federal districts often include capital districts, and they ...

Football Coaches Trade Union and political party PFL, sued CBF requesting a return to Série A. By June 2000, the trial was not solved, and CBF could not release the 2000 Brasileirão rules. A deal with

allowed it to organize a championship, which CBF would later ratify. To avoid further legal problems, the championship would encompass all divisions. The module equivalent to the top division would have the 18 teams which escaped relegation in 1999, the two teams promoted by 1999 Série B, and five teams which would contest Série B in 2000 (Série C champion

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, th ...

, Clube dos 13 member

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

, Juventude, América-MG and Gama, who removed the lawsuit against CBF and was allowed by FIFA to participate).

Controversies

As 1987 Copa União organized by

, Copa João Havelange was surrounded by critics for its exotic and unconventional maths system, by breaking the rules promoting América-MG, Bahia, and

from the Série B (second division) for the top Brazilian football competition. Many have seen the taunts and jeers acts of

Romário Romário de Souza Faria Figueiredo (born 29 January 1966), known simply as Romário (), is a Brazilian politician and a former professional footballer. A prolific striker renowned for his clinical finishing, he scored over 750 goals and was ...

against

Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Athletico Paranaense. Scolari was a defender during his playing days, and notab ...

(who indirectly criticized him) in the semi-finals as decisive for Scolari ignore him for the squad of the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. The end of competition was marked by disaster in

São Januário SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U. ...

First stage

Group Blue

Group Yellow

Group Green and White

Knockout stage

Qualified teams

Bracket

Round of Sixteen

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

Final standings

Team ranked by round advanced. For teams that advanced to the same round, combined result separate the tie. All teams qualified to Copa Libertadores also qualified to Serie A ¹ As Copa do Brasil winner
²As Copa dos Campeões winner
³As a member of Série A 1999

References

* Goal and attendances are Blue Module and knockout stages only. * Blue Module only. Biggest overall: Jundiaí 7-0 Moto Clube and Jundiaí 7-0 Matonense, both for Green Module
Brazil - List of final tables (RSSSF)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Copa Joao Havelange Joao

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Joao