Normally we are used to seeing professional football leagues that have 18, 20 or even 22 teams. Right now 1xBet offers a fantastic live cricket app for Android, which football fans are also invited to check out.
But what about a league that featured 116 teams? Yes, we mean 116, not sixteen. Well, that was exactly the case of the Copa João Havelange. This tournament was actually the 2000 edition of the Brazilian Série A. However, as it can be seen, its format was quite different from other leagues. There is a live cricket and football betting app for Android offered by 1xBet, which punters can also use to wager on Brazilian matches.
A chaotic background
The reason why the Copa João Havelange was organized in the first place with such an unusual format is related to a dispute between many teams. After the 1999 Série A ended, the relegation would be calculated based on the average points between the 1998 and 1999 leagues. The live cricket betting on 1xBet is also quite exciting, and even some Brazilian cricketers are featured there.
There were many teams that were not happy with this formula. Some of the protagonists of this story were:
- Botafogo;
- Internacional;
- SE Gama;
- and São Paulo.
Botafogo was going to be relegated from the Série A to the Série B. However, São Paulo was deducted a few points after playing a few matches with a player whose situation wasn’t regular. This sent SE Gama to the Série B instead. However, they decided to sue the Brazilian football confederation. This chaos led to the creation of the Copa João Havelange. Making live cricket and football betting on 1xBet is very easy, where Brazilian tournaments are also available.
A consequence felt in the 2002 FIFA World Cup
Nominally all teams between the Série D to the Série B were promoted to the first level. Here all Série A teams were put in a group, all Série B teams were put in another group, etc. Watch now live streaming football matches from today at 1xBet, and you can use this platform to wager on the exciting Brazilian football.
The teams within each group played a round-robin, and the top squads qualified to another group stage. Here another round-robin was played, which led to a knockout stage.
Some teams were arbitrarily moved from the group corresponding to the Série B to the Série A one, such as Fluminense, América-MG and Bahia. For this reason, Romário mocked Luiz Felipe Scolari, who at the time was the manager of Palmeiras, and who would then win the 2002 FIFA World Cup with Brazil.
It is said that because of this mockery, Scolari had decided to leave the legendary Romário out of the tournament. At 1xBet you can start watching live football match streamings from today, and enjoy the best matches from this part of the world.
