Eleven of the twenty clubs that make up the first division of the Brazilian Championship This Monday they asked for the suspension of the tournament until May 31 due to the floods in southern Brazil, which have left 148 dead and dozens of cities flooded. Fluminense, Internacional, Athletico Paranaense, Botafogo, Vasco da Gama, Cruzeiro, Fortaleza, Cuiabá, Atlético Goianiense, Juventude and Criciúma, members of the ‘Liga Forte União’ block, argued that stopping the competition is a “necessary humanitarian measure” and “just “.
This was stated by these eleven clubs in a request sent to the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), which organizes the national tournaments. “Single and en bloc, we are all in favor of the immediate suspension of the Brazilian Championship until May 31,” which would mean postponing the seventh and eighth matchdays, the eleven mentioned teams noted.
The center of Porto Alegre, devastated by water
The president of the CBF, Ednaldo Rodrigues, admitted last Friday that they are studying the possibility of suspending the League due to the climate catastrophe that has devastated southern Brazil. The CBF previously decided to postpone the matches this May of the teams from the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the region most affected by the floods, of all national competitions and of any category.
In the first men’s division, the measure affected Gremio, also in favor of a temporary stoppage, Internacional and Juventude. In Porto Alegre, the stadiums of both Gremio and Internacional, two of the most traditional teams in Brazil, became veritable mud lagoons.
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Now, the demand is to temporarily suspend all matches in the top category of Brazilian football. “The stoppage is necessary as a humanitarian, consensual and justice measure,” insisted the Liga Forte União group in a note posted on its social networks.
According to the latest report from the Civil Defense, the floods in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, bordering Uruguay and Argentina, have caused at least 147 deaths, 127 missing and 806 injured. The other fatality was recorded in the neighboring state of Santa Catarina, also affected by the strong storm that devastated Rio Grande do Sul, but to a lesser extent.
In total, there are 2.1 million victims and around 600,000 displaced people who have had to abandon their homes due to the devastating flooding of the region’s rivers.
