FIFA (International Football Federation) has produced a kind of Club World Cup guide, and part of the content raised doubts about the status of international titles won by Palmeiras and Fluminense, champions of the Rio Cup, respectively, from 1951 and 1952.
In the document, the entity lists the trophies of all teams and, by referring to the Rio Copa titles, includes the competitions in the “Copa Inter-Confederations” classification. The same term is used to designate the Intercontinental Cup and the Club World Cup, with its champions recognized by FIFA as world champions.
From there, many came to believe that the tournaments won by Palmeiras and Fluminense in the 1950s would also have this status. But that didn’t happen. Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca also appears in the guide with a title of “Inter-Confederations Cup” for winning the 1993 Afro-Asian Club Championship, but it is not recognized as world champion.
The maximum football entity only recognizes that there was a mistake in the production of the guide released to the fans. The material, in PDF, was taken from the Confederation website to be reformulated.
To change the recognition of a competition it is necessary that there is a decision from the FIFA Council. In 2017, for example, the agency endorsed it to be recognized as world champions all winners of the competition organized by Conmebol (South American Football Confederation) and UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), which brought together the campaign of the two continents.
That year, all the world champions recognized by the top football entity, without Palmeiras and Fluminense in the document, were listed. After that, there was no change approved by the board.
