The Projeto Tóquio (''Tokyo Project'') is a

Portuguese language Portuguese ( or ) is a Western Romance language of the Indo-European language family originating from the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is the official language of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and São Tom� ...

term traditionally used by

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian media and clubs' staff and supporters in the context of winning or attempting to win the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

competition and then compete in the

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

(or, previously in the Intercontinental Cup) in Japan.''Papão - Nada de Projeto Tóquio'' - Gazeta Esportiva
Thus, when a club gets eliminated from the competition, it is said by the media that the team has postponed its Tokyo Project. The term Projeto Tóquio was first used in 1986, during

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

's 1986 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A campaign, as a way to make the club more popular.

History

The project normally starts after the club win the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

or the

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

(which qualify their winner to compete in the following year's Copa Libertadores), and the clubs usually spend large sums of money to win the Copa Libertadores. In 1998,

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

spent US$10 million to win the competition,''Desmotivado, Vasco joga por título nos Estados Unidos'' - UOL Esportes (December 4, 1998)
/ref> and in 1998,

Palmeiras The Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional association football, football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes (district of São Paulo), Perdizes. Palmeiras is ...

, managed by

Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player who currently serves as the technical director of Grêmio. Considered to be one of the greatest and most su ...

, brought Júnior Baiano among other players, and won the Copa Libertadores 1999.''Palmeiras ganha um semestre para planejar Libertadores'' - UOL
(May 31, 1998) After winning the Copa Libertadores in 1997, Cruzeiro signed some players, such as

Bebeto José Roberto Gama de Oliveira (born 16 February 1964), known as Bebeto (), is a Brazilian former professional football player who played as a forward. He entered politics in the 2010 Brazilian general elections and was elected to the Legis ...

Gonçalves Gonçalves (, ; Portuguese for "son of Gonçalo") is a Portuguese surname. Origin: Germanic patronymic ''Gundisalvis''. Notable people with the surname include: * Adílio de Oliveira Gonçalves (1956–2024), Brazilian footballer * Ailton Gon ...

and Donizete, just to play the match in Japan.''Copa Toyota'' - Gazeta Esportiva
Vasco tried to keep the 2000 Série A and

2000 Copa Mercosur The 2000 Copa Mercosur was the 3rd season of the Copa Mercosur, CONMEBOL's club tournament for countries in the southern part of America. The competition started on 1 August 2000 and concluded on 20 December 2000 with CR Vasco da Gama, Vasco da ...

squad for the 2001 season, as part of their plan to win the

2001 Copa Libertadores The 2001 Copa Libertadores de América was the 42nd edition of CONMEBOL's premier club football tournament. The winners were Boca Juniors, beating Mexican club Cruz Azul in the finals on penalties and lifting its fourth Copa Libertadores trophy. ...

and thus compete in the Intercontinental Cup. The name refers to the city where the Intercontinental Cup was contested from 1980 to 2001, which was played in Tokyo during that period.

References

Books

Websites

{{DEFAULTSORT:Projeto Toquio Football in Brazil