By Samindra Kunti
March 14 – This weekend the Brazilian women’s league kicked off in an expanded format, despite financial constraints and a talent drain that has cast a shadow over the 2017 season with many of the top players signed for foreign clubs.
For the first time the ‘Brasileirão Feminino’ will have two divisions, A1 and A2, with eight clubs in each division. The league will also last six months instead of four months previously. All teams will have a guaranteed 14 matches to play.
To increase the exposure and visibility of the women’s league, the CBF decided that the first six clubs in the men’s league will participate automatically in the women’s league. That move was encouraged by CONMEBOL’s requirement that all participants in the Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the Champions League, must have a women’s team in their club.
The clubs haven’t welcomed the CBF’s rule, because investing in a women’s team remains a precarious financial operation in a club environment that was already struggling commercially.
The disparity in the finances between the men’s and women’s championships is nowhere greater than in the prize of the leagues. The women’s champions will receive a bonus of just €35,787. Last season Palmeiras, the Brazilian champions in the men’s league, received €5 million in prize money, about 141 times more.
That disparity impacts on the quality of the players available, with an exodus of Brazil’s top performers to better paid foreign leagues.
Formiga, who played for São Francisco from the state of Bahia last season, has left for Paris Saint-Germain in France this season; while Cristiane, Érika, Andressinha, Marta and Andressa Alves are some of a number of players from the national team who ply their trade abroad in search of more competitive leagues and bigger salaries.
On the opening weekend, Santos, Flamengo and Rio Preto took the lead in division A2 with commanding victories. But the first round of matches already highlighted how difficult it is for the league to sustain itself. The opening match between Flamengo and Vitoria sold 420 tickets, with a negative revenue of €1,581. In division A1, Corinthians’s match with São Francisco attracted 125 fans, with a gate of €171. The operational deficit for the game was €1,223.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1713970283labto1713970283ofdlr1713970283owedi1713970283sni@i1713970283tnuk.1713970283ardni1713970283mas1713970283