Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, defends that the 2017 decision be annulled to allow the Rio club to officially share the achievement with Sport
The discussion about who is the legitimate champion of the 1987 Brazilian Championship has gained another chapter. The Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, sent to the STF (Supreme Federal Court), on Wednesday (18), an opinion favorable to the action brought by Flamengo for the recognition of the title of that edition. The information was initially published by the portal PlatôBR and confirmed by Estadão.
The PGR judged Flamengo’s request is validfiled in 2017, to annul the ruling of the First Panel of the STFwhich, that year, invalidated a 2011 CBF resolution that considered both the Rio club and Sport as champions of 1987. Months after the Supreme Court’s decision, the CBF accepted a determination from the Pernambuco Court and declared only the Pernambuco team as the only champion.
In the petition, Gonet agrees with the Flamengo’s argument that the First Panel of the STF was wrong by concluding that the CBF, due to sporting criteria, could not declare another club as champion of 1987. The PGR argues that the title is shared with Sport.
“The conclusion of nullity of RDP/CBF No. 02/2011 must be rejected, preserving the recognition granted to Sport within the strict limits of the final and unappealable command, without, therefore, prohibiting the shared title of champion of the 1987 event”, says an excerpt from the petition.
The case is in the office of former minister Luís Roberto Barroso, who, in 2017, voted against Flamengo’s request for the title to be shared. The theme will be inherited by Jorge Messias, head of the General Advocacy of the Union (AGU) and an avowed Sport fan. Until the nomination of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is approved by the Senate, the process will continue under the rapporteurship of Edson Fachin.
Understand the case
On February 7, 1988, Sport beat Guarani 1-0, on Ilha do Retiro, and won the 1987 Brazilian Championship titleone of the most controversial editions of the competition in its history. Despite definitions from the CBF and the Superior Court of Sports Justice (STJD), fans of Flamengo and the Pernambuco team argue, to this day, about who the trophy would belong to – the cup is in the red-black museum in Recife.
The Brasileirão edition of that year provided, in its regulations, for the finalist clubs of the Green and Yellow Modules to face each other through a quadrangular final.
In Verde, also known as the “Copa União”, it was promoted throughout the year as the real “1987 Brazilian Championship” by the fans and participating clubs, mostly members of the “Clube dos 13”. Internacional and Flamengo reached the decision, with the red and black team’s victory, but refused to enter the field for the final quadrangular, under the pretext that the national championship had already been decided between the strongest rivals in the country (Flamengo beat Internacional 1-0 at Maracanã in the Módulo Verde final).
In Yellow, Guarani and Sport followed the regulations established by the CBF at the beginning of the competition and faced each other in the final quadrangular after reaching an agreement regarding the division of the victory – the teams tied 11 to 11 on penalties in the Modulo decision. Four quadrangular games were not played and Sport and Guarani returned to the field on February 7, 1988 to decide the title. Marco Antônio, Sport’s defender, scored the only goal of the game.
The CBF later proclaimed Sport the 1987 Brazilian champion. The Court ratified the title in 1994. Later, in 2011, through a resolution, the CBF declared the two teams winners: Sport and Flamengo.
Within the scope of the law, Sport was declared the legitimate champion of the edition. In 2017, the First Panel of the Federal Supreme Court denied an appeal filed by Flamengo against a court decision that declared Sport the sole champion of the 1987 Brazilian Championship.
In April of the same year, the collegiate had already upheld the decision of the rapporteur, minister Marco Aurélio Mello, deeming Flamengo’s appeal unfeasible, considering that the decision that recognized Sport as the only champion of the 1987 championship had already become final and could not be changed.
“What is clearly intended here, with the regulatory appeal and the embargoes for declaration, is the re-discussion of the merits. All these issues were hotly debated”, stated Minister Alexandre de Moraes at the time.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
