COVID-19-hit Brazil set to resume Serie A

Article posted by Coliseum, July 2^nd, 2020

Image: MJR Group Ltd./Coliseum

The 2020 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A season is all set to resume on August 9 and has been given the all-clear signal. This announcement was made by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) irrespective of the fact that health experts have expressed concern that COVID-19 could be peaking in the South American country at that time.

The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, commonly referred as Brasileirão, is a Brazilian professional league for men’s football clubs. At the top of the Brazilian football league system, it is the country’s primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B.

Brazil is one of the countries which has been much battered by the fatal respiratory disease and is only next to the United States. Coronavirus has claimed more than 55,000 lives in the country and around 1.2 million have been infected.

However, the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, and leading Rio de Janeiro club Flamengo have been making a strong pitch for the return of football, with the Brazilian Football Confederation – the governing body of football in Brazil – recently holding a meeting with the 40 clubs in its top two divisions. All 40 clubs participating in both the Serie A and Serie B all had at least a representative in the meeting.

The 2020 Série A season was due to start in May but could not due to the pandemic. However, football has made a partial return with Campeonato Carioca, the State championship of Rio de Janeiro, resuming recently.

As it stands, the plan is that the Serie A may return on August 9th. Elsewhere, Serie B is scheduled to restart on August 8.

A statement sent out by the CBF read, “The return of football depends on authorization from health authorities. However, 19 of the 20 Série A clubs were willing to play outside their cities, if ultimately their municipalities are not yet cleared by health authorities to play games. This was a sign of support for the competition for CBF.”

Some other competitions have had to resume action in a selected number of stadiums and it remains to be seen if the Serie A might have to follow suit.

The set dates and steps to be taken for the safe return of both tournaments were proposed by the President of Brazilian Football Confederation, Rogério Caboclo. At the moment, all Serie A clubs are in sync with all the dates and set down measures to be taken when the competition resumes.

For now, all the clubs are in tune to go back to the pitch and if everything goes smooth, the competition is set to resume in August.

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