Brazilian Football Depends Upon Improvement of Domestic League

12/23/2014 - 07h00

The French victory at the World Cup in 1998 is a special case. No other team has ever lifted the trophy with so many of its players plying their trade outside their country, not even Brazil or Argentina, perhaps the world's two most traditional exporters of footballing talent.

In 1994, Carlos Alberto Parreira's squad included 11 players who were playing in the Brazilian domestic league, while in 2002, Luiz Felipe Scolari's squad had 13.

The point is not that Brazil should select only those players who remain in the country. Nevertheless, there is a need to improve the Brazilian Championship, to make it genuinely competitive.

"What does that mean?" asks the executive director of Fluminense, Fernando Simone.

It would mean a fan in Italy opening the newspaper and planning their weekend the same way Brazilian fans do: at 2pm, Liverpool vs Arsenal; at 5:45pm, Inter Milan vs Lazio and at 6pm, Athletic Bilboa vs Atlético Madrid. It would mean English children tuning in to Flamengo vs Corinthians.

But this is a long way off.

Having a relevant league in Brazil would mean providing the players with reasons to stay - even with lower salaries. It would mean improving the technical quality of the game, increasing the number of well-trained coaches, and filling the stadiums to capacity. It would require the creation of a culture that keeps at least half the national side playing in Brazil.

"It's clear that there needs to be professionalism amongst those who organize the championship, not just at the clubs," says João Henrique Areias, a specialist in sports management.

In 1987, Areias was one of the creators of the "Club of 13". The dream was to transform the association of clubs into a Brazilian league that would become a global event. "In 1988, when the CBF increased the tournament by eight clubs, I thought it was a step backwards," he says.

The English Premier League was created with the breakaway of 22 teams from the old Football league and the Football Association five years after the formation of the Club of 13 in Brazil. Seven years later, they were making more than $750 million a season.

Today the Premier League is worth annually $1.8 billion, 66% more than Spain's La Liga. Yet in 1987, the Brazilian Championship had average crowds of 20,000, while in 1989, the average crowd at English top-flight matches was just 18,000.

"When I was president of Flamengo 20 years ago, the revenue was R$20 million ($7.5 million). Today it's R$340 million ($128 million), but same problems have just got worse," says Luiz Augusto Veloso.

For Veloso, football increases irrational management. Between spending little and assembling a mediocre team, and splashing out to build a title winning squad, managers are always tempted by the second option. At least, this works for Barcelona and Real Madrid.

For 30 years, Brazil has sold its best players to big teams abroad, justifying this stream of exports by pleading a lack of financial muscle compared to European clubs.

But in 2012, Neymar received R$42 million (US $15.8 million) to stay at Santos, more than Cristiano Ronaldo, Mario Götze and Zlatan Ibrahimovich made that year. In 2013, he moved to Spain. Money wasn't an issue. The problem was the lack of serious competition in Brazil.

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE