Flamengo won a record 36th Rio State Championship with a 1-0 win in the round leg of the final against Fluminense, which he beat 2–1 in the first leg.
A goal in Vitinho’s 95th minute on Wednesday night secured the triumph of the legendary carioca club, protector champion and 2019 Copa Libertadores holder, the South American of the European Champions League.
The Carioca State League Championship was the first to resume in South America on June 18 after the coronavirus pandemic stopped football on the continent.
Among Brazil’s 26 state leagues, the Santa Catarina Championship in the south of the country resumed last week before being interrupted 3 days later following the discovery of 14 Covid-19 instances among Chapecoense players.
On Monday, the Ceará championship in the Northeast also resumed and other states could follow soon.
The Rio championship resumed amid controversy, with Flamengo insisting on the game while Fluminense and Botafogo, two of the city’s 4 major clubs, threatened to boycott, saying that at the height of the pandemic, football was not a priority.
Both were forced to play and expressed their opposition on banners and T-shirts.
Fluminense, which holds 31 titles, refused to play their first two matches in their own old stadium, the Maracana, so patients from a box in the same that the stadium can continue to receive treatment.
The state of Rio de Janeiro is the peak time affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, only in Sao Paulo.
According to the government’s most recent bulletin, at least 11,757 other people have died in Rio de Janeiro, out of more than 74,000 deaths in the country.