Cruzeiro fans riot after historic relegation

Hello, and welcome to the Brazil Sports newsletter! With the league season brought to a close, we look at the momentous relegation of Cruzeiro, one of the country’s biggest clubs. Meanwhile, on the other end of the table, lowly Fortaleza exceeded everyone’s expectations this season, qualifying for a continental tournament for the first time in their history. We tell their story. Happy reading!

Cruzeiro: sinking the unsinkable ship

Sunday afternoon in the Mineirão stadium—the stage of Brazil’s 7-1 drubbing against Germany in the 2014 World Cup—and the home team Cruzeiro are fighting for their lives. The Belo Horizonte side needed to win their final league match, at home to Palmeiras, and hope for a defeat for northeastern club Ceará in order to avoid relegation to the second division. 

The disaster. Things were almost going their way until Palmeiras—with nothing to play for—took the lead. News filtered through that Ceará had scored an equalizer in their match, and the Mineirão went silent. That was until the sound of bombs, thrown by the police to disperse a group of Cruzeiro fans that had begun to riot, broke the hush.

The match continued, with seats being ripped out of the stand and thrown onto the pitch and a constant din of bombs inside and outside the stadium. Watching on television, it was as if the match was being played in the middle of an airstrike. As regular fans—many with young children—huddled in search of refuge from tear gas and the risk of violent confrontations, Palmeiras scored a second. The referee, fearing an even more serious incident, stopped the game with five minutes left to play. Cruzeiro were relegated.

Why it matters. In a league with so many major clubs with large fanbases, it is not uncommon for big sides to get relegated. In fact, at the beginning of this season, only four sides had never fallen to the second division: Flamengo, Santos, São Paulo—and Cruzeiro.

Anatomy of a crisis. Not too dissimilar to a plane...