Copa Rio (international tournament)
The Copa Rio (Rio Cup) was the first intercontinental club football tournament, contested on two occasions in 1951 and 1952 in Brazil. The first edition (but also the second) was an unofficial international club tournament[note 1][note 2][note 3] contested between eight teams from Europe and South America between 30 June and 22 July 1951 in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in the Pacaembu and Maracanã stadiums, respectively. Brazilian press at the time dubbed it a "club world cup", a title that would later be applied to the Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004) and eventually the FIFA Club World Cup, first held in 2000.
 | |
| Founded | 1951 |
|---|---|
| Region | Europe South America |
| Most successful club(s) |  |
The status of the competition as an official "world cup" is disputed, as 1951 winning club Palmeiras regard its championship team as the first ever club football world champions. In 2014, FIFA acknowledged the 1951 Copa Rio as "the first worldwide club competition and Palmeiras as its winner,"[11] however it was later clarified that they did not confer the competition with the same status as the currently active FIFA Club World Cup[12] or the Intercontinental Cup (the only competition not organized directly by FIFA but which the FIFA Council has retroactively defined as a "world championship" equivalent to the Club World Cup).[3][13][14][15][16] Officially, the Copa Rio is considered a friendly competition[17][18][note 2] organised by the Brazilian Sports Confederation,[19][20] with unofficial aid and authorization from FIFA,[note 1] and not an assignee of the official world title.[21][11][22][13]
Two editions of the Copa Rio were held. Brazilian club Palmeiras won the 1951 tournament, and Fluminense, also from Brazil and co-organizer of the following edition, won the title in 1952. The competition was succeeded by another tournament, the Torneio Octogonal Rivadavia Corrêa Meyer, which was won by Vasco da Gama of Brazil. This tournament, however, was comprised predominantly of domestic teams (five Brazilian sides, and three foreign clubs),[note 4] thus losing part of the intercontinental aspect of its successor.
History
According to contemporary Brazilian newspapers O Estado de São Paulo and Jornal do Brasil, and Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo, the original plan for the tournament was to invite the champion clubs of the Rio de Janeiro State League, São Paulo State League (the Brazilian national league was not formed until 1971, and the Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo state leagues were – and still are – the strongest state leagues in Brazil), as well as sides from Portugal, Uruguay, Italy, Sweden, Spain and England (the best-ranked nations at the 1950 FIFA World Cup, held in Brazil). According to the original plan, countries such as France, Argentina, the USSR, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and West Germany (all strong footballing nations) were not to be invited as they did not participate in the 1950 World Cup. However, the French side Nice was accepted to the competition following the organizers' failure to bring a Spanish side. Also due to the failure to bring teams from England and Sweden, the competition organizers accepted clubs from Austria (at the time, the most successful federation at the Mitropa Cup) and Yugoslavia (the next highest ranked nation at the 1950 World Cup). In 1952, the Brazilian Football Confederation invited teams from Argentina and West Germany, which were not invited for the 1951 edition of the tournament.
Some clubs were invited to the competition and declined to participate:
In 1951: AC Milan (Italy), Atlético Madrid (Spain), Barcelona (Spain) Tottenham (England), Newcastle United (England), Lausanne (Switzerland), Malmö FF (Sweden) and Rapid Wien (Austria).
In 1952: Juventus (Italy), Internazionale (Italy), Millonarios (Colombia), Hibernian (Scotland), Newcastle United (England), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain) and Nice (France).
Several of these were based on the concurrence of the 1951 Latin Cup, which AC Milan and Atlético Madrid participated in. Nice withdrew from the 1951 Latin Cup in order to play the Copa Rio. Barcelona, Nice and Juventus played the 1952 Latin Cup and not the Copa Rio. Real Madrid, invited to the 1952 Copa Rio, negotiated with both the Brazilian FA and the Venezuelan FA and chose instead to play in the Venezuelan "Pequeña Copa del Mundo," staged simultaneous to Copa Rio. Millonarios declined its invitation in 1952 due to participation in the Pequeña Copa del Mundo as well. Inter Milan declined on the grounds that the club's board of directors felt that the team was not "up to the level of such competition" following a crushing defeat to minor Italian side Pro-Patria. The indifference of British clubs expressed in the 1970s towards the Intercontinental Cup may suggest an explanation for Tottenham, Newcastle and Hibernian's non-participation in the Copa Rio for similar reasons. Tottenham may have also been facing financial difficulties, as the club cancelled a trip to Argentina in 1951 as well.
Some clubs accepted the invitation to participant but were not able to do so, while others requested invitations and were denied. In 1951, Mexican club Atlas requested participation and were denied, while the Indian Football Association requested the participation of a representative club and were also denied. In 1952 the Argentinian FA refused to allow its national champion Racing Club to participate, while FC Nürnberg (West Germany) were prevented from participating in 1952 due to a West Germany 1950-1952 federal law prohibiting national clubs from participating in tournaments abroad (FC Saarbrücken took its berth, since that law did not apply to clubs from the Saarland Protectorate due to political reasons). In 1952, Dinamo Zagreb (then Yugoslavia, presently Croatia) requested participation and were denied. Also in 1952, Uruguayan club Peñarol withdrew from the Copa Rio in their semi-final second leg match, resulting in a walkover forfeiture against Corinthians, citing "lack of security" after their first semi-final match ended in a brawl.
According to the Estado de São Paulo, due to the difficulties in bringing European sides to compete in Brazil, the CBD (Brazilian Sports Confederation) decided that its 1953 intercontinental competition should feature four Brazilian sides and four foreign sides, rather than six foreign sides. The schedule of the 1953 competition (the Torneio Octogonal Rivadavia Corrêa Meyer) followed this decision; however the Uruguayan Football Association prohibited Nacional from participating due to the close scheduling of the Uruguayan domestic league, and the club was replaced by Brazilian side Fluminense, as there was not enough time to search for a foreign substitute. Thus the competition included five Brazilian sides and three foreign sides instead. The 1953 competition also saw some clubs being invited and declining to participate. Rot-Weiss Essen (West Germany) and Partizan (from Belgrade, Serbia, then Yugoslavia) were invited and accepted to participate but were then uninvited by the Brazilian Sports Confederation. In the case of Rot-Weiss Essen, their invitation followed their German Cup win, and the un-invitation followed a 4–0 defeat in a friendly match in Essen against America (Rio de Janeiro) (not viewed as a top club). Rot-Weiss Essen sued the CBD for financial compensation, taking the case to FIFA (the results of the case are unknown). Despite the competition's new name and different distribution of domestic and foreign clubs, some sources (1953 editions of both O Estado de São Paulo and El Mundo Deportivo) referred to the 1953 competition as the same tournament from 1951–52, while other sources (RSSSF and 1953 editions of the Jornal do Brasil) treated it as a successor.[note 5]
Status of competition
A number of requests for validation of the Copa Rio as an officially recognized world champion-crowning tournament have been made to FIFA, primarily by 1951 Copa Rio winners Palmeiras and the Brazilian press. The Fluminense did it in 2007 but, also in this case, without success.[23] FIFA, who have exclusive authority to determine the status of club competitions, acknowledge that the 1951 Copa Rio was the first club football competition to feature clubs from South America and Europe (thus, the first "worldwide" club competition), however they maintain that it was an unofficial friendly competition organized by a national confederation (the Brazilian Football Confederation) and not by any continental confederations (such as CONMEBOL or UEFA) or by FIFA itself.
In 2006, Palmeiras prepared a dossier for FIFA describing in detail the nature of the 1951 Copa Rio to request official confirmation of their conquest as the first ever club football world champions.[24][25][26][12] Part of the dossier involved evidence of the fact that FIFA officials Stanley Rous and Ottorino Barassi participated unofficially in the organisation of the 1951 competition. Rous and Barassi were primarily involved in negotiations with European clubs, while Barassi also helped organize the framework of the competition. It is also proven that Ottorino Barassi participated in the organisation of the competition in 1952, though only through telephone contact, with no evidence that he came to Brazil personally in 1952 as he had done several times for the 1951 edition as well as being present in Brazil for the competition.[note 5]
In May 2007, the club received a letter from FIFA signed by former secretary general Urs Linsi recognizing Palmeiras as world champions in 1951.[26] However this decision was later retracted by FIFA president Sepp Blatter who declared that the matter was still under review. On 26 April, FIFA reported that the process to make this decision had not yet been completed and that up until that point the issue was dealt with only at an administrative level by the general secretariat, but that given the importance and complexity of the matter it should be submitted to the Executive Committee of the Federation.[27] In December 2007 in response to a clarification request from Palmeiras, FIFA declared that the first Club World Cup was played in 2000, thus not recognizing the Copa Rio as an official FIFA competition.[28] The Copa Rio was defined as a friendly competition organized by the Brazilian Football Confederation.
In 2013 after further requests to FIFA, another secretary, Jérôme Valcke, again recognized Palmeiras as an official world champion, also writing: "In order to ensure that all files of this championship are updated, we will circulate a copy of this letter internally to FIFA and update our records on FIFA.com. However this never occurred, and in 2014 the FIFA Council only recognized Palmeiras as champions of the first ever organized worldwide club football competition.[24][29] According to FIFA, the tournament was "the first played among Europeans and South Americans worldwide." FIFA maintained a distinction between club tournament champions of competitions organized by FIFA (since the year 2000) and those of competitions not organized by FIFA (including the Intercontinental Cup). The world federation simply recognized the Copa Rio as the first worldwide club competition and acknowledged Palmeiras as the winner, though not as official world champions.Part of the Brazilian press mistakenly interpreted the concept written in English,[12] and the decision was confirmed in 2015.
On 22 July 2016, FIFA commemorated the 65-year anniversary of the 1951 Copa Rio title won by the Palmeiras. On social media, FIFA posted the following: "Green is the color of envy. The ' Verdão ' were envied by the world on this day, 65 years ago. Inspired by Liminha, Palmeiras defeated a Juventus team that had Giampiero Boniperti and a large trio of Danes to become 'the world's first intercontinental club champion'."[30] However, a title may only be validated by the FIFA Council.[27]
The distinction between a "worldwide competition" and a "competition awarding the title of world champion" was reiterated in January 2017 when FIFA issued the following note:
At its meeting in São Paulo on 7 June 2014, the FIFA Executive Committee agreed with the CBF's request to recognize the 1951 European and South American club tournament as the world's first club competition and Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras as the winner. FIFA recognizes and values initiatives to establish club competitions around the world throughout history. This is the case of tournaments involving European and South American clubs, such as the pioneer Copa Rio, played in 1951 and 1952, and the Intercontinental Cup.[31]
In October 2017, FIFA changed its position and has officially recognized (with official FIFA Council approval note) all Intercontinental Cup champions from 1960 onward as club world champions with the same status as the FIFA Club World Cup winners, therefore as official[note 6][note 2] world champions.[15][35] According to the FIFA statute and FIFA regulations, the Intercontinental Cup and FIFA Club World Cup are official competitions,[note 2][note 3][36] which is not the case with the Copa Rio, officially organized by the Brazilian Football Confederation.[19][20] FIFA does not list the Copa Rio as an official record of club world championships.[13] Likewise CONMEBOL does not include the Copa Rio in its records of official competitions, unlike the Club World Cup and Intercontinental Cup (The list includes competitions that are organized by or simply recognized by CONMEBOL. This includes the FIFA Club World Cup, which is fully organized by FIFA).[37][38] In the future, only the FIFA Council can change the status of the tournament.[39][21]
In April 2019, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, interviewed by the Brazilian media, reiterated FIFA's perspective that only the winners of the Intercontinental Cup and the Club World Cup are officially world champions:
"We have already decided to give the title of world champion to everyone who has won the Cup between Europe and South America since 1960. 1951 is a little further back".
"The world title of Palmeiras... For miracles, you have ask another, not me..."
In Brazil, the competition was truly regarded as a Club World Cup, and the participating Brazilian teams (Vasco da Gama, Palmeiras, Corinthians, and Fluminense) approached it with a level of importance they would later entitle only to major football trophies such as the Brazilian Championship, the Copa Libertadores, the Intercontinental Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. In Brazil, the Copa Rio was regarded as more important than the contemporary Venezuelan friendly international competition, the Pequeña Copa del Mundo. In 1951 Vasco da Gama cancelled a trip to Europe in order to play in the Copa Rio, and in 1953 Vasco da Gama declined the invitation to play the 1953 "Pequeña Copa de Mundo." In most of Europe, the Copa Rio did not have the same prestige, as many clubs declined participation in favor of other prestigious tournaments such as the Latin Cup. The Italian press regarded the competition as an "impressive project" that "was greeted so enthusiastically by FIFA officials Stanley Rous and Jules Rimet to the extent of almost giving it an official FIFA stamp,"[42] and as a competition that inspired the creation of the European Champions Cup and the Intercontinental Cup.[43] In describing Juventus's acceptance to participate in the 1951 tournament, the Italian press stated that "an Italian club could not be missing in such an important and worldwide-reaching event".[44]
1951 Copa Rio
The tournament was organized from 30 June to 22 July and featured players such as Vavá, Ademir of Vasco da Gama, Jair da Rosa Pinto of Palmeiras, Jose Santamaria, Walter Taibo, goalkeeper Anibal Paz, Luis Volpi of Nacional, Branko Stankovic, Rajko Mitic of Red Star Belgrade, Giampiero Boniperti, Danish Karl Aage Præst and John Hansen of Juventus, José Travassos of Sporting Lisbon, and Swedish Lennart Samuelsson and Antoine Bonifaci of Nice. Juventus's coach was legendary Hungarian György Sárosi.
Teams
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Rio de Janeiro Group
All matches played at Estádio do Maracanã.
| Teams | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 6 |
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 |
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 2 |
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 0 |
- 30 June: Austria Wien 4−0 Nacional
- 1 July: Vasco da Gama 5−1 Sporting CP
- 3 July: Nacional 3−2 Sporting CP
- 5 July: Vasco da Gama 5−1 Austria Wien
- 7 July: Sporting CP 1−2 Austria Wien
- 8 July: Vasco da Gama 2−1 Nacional
São Paulo Group
All matches played at Estádio do Pacaembu.
| Teams | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 2 |
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 0 |
- 30 June: Palmeiras 3−0 OGC Nice
- 1 July: Juventus 3−2 Red Star
- 3 July: OGC Nice 2−3 Juventus
- 5 July: Palmeiras 2−1 Red Star
- 7 July: Red Star 1−2 OGC Nice
- 8 July: Palmeiras 0−4 Juventus
Semi-finals
São Paulo
- 12 July: Austria Wien 3−3 Juventus
- 14 July: Juventus 3−1 Austria Wien
Rio de Janeiro
- 12 July: Vasco da Gama 1−2 Palmeiras
- 15 July: Vasco da Gama 0−0 Palmeiras
Champion
First title |
1952 Copa Rio
The tournament was organized from 13 July to 2 August and featured players such as Obdulio Varela, Roque Maspoli, Alcides Ghiggia, Juan Alberto Schiaffino of Peñarol, José Travassos of Sporting Lisbon, Didi, Joao Pinheiro of Fluminense, Luizinho, goalkeeper Gilmar of Corinthians and Roger Vonlanthen of Grasshopper.
Teams
Rio de Janeiro Group
All matches played at Estádio do Maracanã.
| Teams | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 | 3 |
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -3 | 0 |
- Peñarol 1−0 Grasshopper-Club
- 13 July: Fluminense 0−0 Sporting CP
- Peñarol 3−1 Sporting CP
- 17 July: Fluminense 1−0 Grasshopper-Club
- Sporting CP 2−1 Grasshopper-Club
- 20 July: Fluminense 3−0 Peñarol
São Paulo Group
All matches played at Estádio do Pacaembu.
| Teams | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 11 | 6 |
|
3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
|
3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 11 | -4 | 2 |
|
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 15 | -12 | 0 |
- Austria - Libertad 4-2
- 13 July: Corinthians - Saarbrücken 6-1
- 16 July: Austria - Saarbrücken 5-1
- Corinthians - Libertad 6-1
- 19 July: Libertad - Saarbrücken 4-1
- Corinthians - Austria 2-1
Semi-finals
- São Paulo semifinal
Corinthians - Peñarol 2-1
Corinthians - Peñarol 0-0
- Rio de Janeiro semifinal
23 July: Fluminense - Austria 1-0
27 July: Fluminense - Austria 5-2
Finals
Both matches played at Estádio do Maracanã.
- 30 July: Fluminense - Corinthians 2-0
- 2 August: Fluminense - Corinthians 2-2
Champion
First title |
1953 Torneio Octogonal Rivadavia Corrêa Meyer
The tournament was organized from 7 June to 4 July and featured players such as Garrincha, Nilton Santos, Dino Sani of Botafogo, José Travassos of Sporting Lisbon, Didi, Joao Pinheiro of Fluminense, Luizinho, goalkeeper Gilmar of Corinthians, Vavá, Ademir of Vasco da Gama, Nílton de Sordi of São Paulo, Lawrie Reilly of Hibernian, Jose Santamaria, Argentine Hector Rial and goalkeeper Walter Taibo of Nacional.
Teams
Real Madrid (champion of the 1952 Small Club World Cup) withdrew from the competition. Nacional (1953 Uruguayan champion) accepted the invitation to participate but were prohibited by the Uruguayan FA.
Rio de Janeiro Group
| Teams | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 5 |
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
|
3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 3 |
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 9 | -5 | 1 |
- 7 June: Vasco da Gama 3 - 3 Hibernian
- 13 June: Botafogo 3 - 1 Hibernian
- 14 June: Vasco da Gama 2 - 1 Fluminense
- 17 June: Botafogo 2 - 2 Fluminense
- 20 June: Fluminense 3 - 0 Hibernian
- 21 June: Vasco da Game 2 - 1 Botafogo
São Paulo Group
| Teams | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 5 |
|
3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 1 |
|
3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 1 |
- 7 June: Corinthians 5 - 2 Olimpia
- 13 June: São Paulo 4 - 1 Olimpia
- 14 June: Corinthians 2 - 1 Sporting
- 17 June: São Paulo 4 - 1 Sporting
- 20 June: Olimpia 1 - 1 Sporting
- 21 June: São Paulo 1 - 1 Corinthians
Semi-finals
São Paulo
- 24 June: São Paulo 1 - 0 Fluminense
- 28 June: São Paulo 0 - 1 (1 - 0) Fluminense
Rio de Janeiro
- 24 June: Vasco da Gama 4 - 2 Corinthians
- 28 June: Vasco da Gama 3 - 1 Corinthians
Finals
São Paulo
- 1 July: São Paulo 0 - 1 Vasco da Gama
Rio de Janeiro
- 4 July: Vasco da Gama 2 - 1 São Paulo
Champion
First title |
See also
- International club competition records
Notes
- Until 1955, FIFA limited itself to authorizing the creation of international competitions for clubs only if they were organized by at least two member associations. Since 1955, FIFA assigns the confederations the exclusive right to organize competitions deemed official.[1]
- According to the FIFA statute, official competitions are those for representative teams organized by FIFA or any confederation. Representative teams are usually national teams but may also be club teams that represent a confederation in interconfederal competitions or a member association in a continental competition.[2][3][4]
- In accordance with the regulations integrated in the FIFA statute, official competitions for club teams are defined as those organized under the auspices of FIFA, confederations and associations, or authorized by them, excluding friendly matches and test matches; these include confederal and interconfederal cups (organized by FIFA or confederations), and the national championships and cups (arranged by national federations).[5][6][7][8][9][10]
- Originally, the 1953 competition intended to include four Brazilian teams and four foreign teams, however the Uruguayan Football Association prohibited Nacional from participating due to the schedule of the Uruguayan domestic league and this club was replaced by Fluminense, as there was not enough time to search for a foreign substitute.
- The sources are available only in Portuguese and Spanish languages and are available on Portuguese language Wikipedia articles on the subject.
- "Official (plural officials), from the Latin officiālis. 1. The official word is also used to refer to what is recognized or derives from an authority.[32] 2. Approved by the government or someone in power.[33] It is synonymous with legal, legitimate, approved.[34]
- Austrian champions 1950/51, Rapid Wien, renounced.
- Italian champion 1950/51, AC Milan, renounced because they had to play the Latin Cup during the same period.
References
- Union des Associations Européennes de Football (October 2004). "50 years of the European Cup" (PDF). pp. 7–9.
- "FIFA Statutes, April 2016 edition" (PDF). p. 5.
- "FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018: Statistical-kit" (PDF). 10 December 2018. p. 13.
- "2018/19 UEFA Champions League regulations" (PDF). p. 10.
- "LAWS OF THE GAME 2015/16" (PDF). p. 18.
- "REGULATIONS on the Status and Transfer of Players 2016" (PDF). p. 5, 6.
- Fédération Internationale de Football Association (ed.). "FIFA Governance Regulations (FGR) 2016" (PDF). pp. 6–7, 9–11.
- "Regulations Governing International Matches" (PDF). p. 15, 25.
- "FIFA Statutes, April 2016 edition" (PDF). pp. 5, 19–21, 33–35, 37, 44, 74.
- "FIFA ignora Taça Latina do Benfica, FC Porto é o clube português com mais títulos" (in Portuguese). 25 May 2011. Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- "Ao GloboEsporte.com, explicação da entidade que comanda o futebol é de que Copa Rio tem nível mundial, mas é diferente dos torneios organizados depois de 2000". globoesporte.globo.com (in Portuguese). 11 August 2014.
- "Ao Estado, Fifa confirma Mundial de 1951 para o Palmeiras - Esportes - Estadão". Estadão (in Portuguese). Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- "FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2017: Statistical Kit" (PDF). pp. 15, 40, 41, 42.
- "FIFA Council approves key organisational elements of the FIFA World Cup" (Press release). FIFA. 27 October 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- "FIFA acepta propuesta de CONMEBOL de reconocer títulos de copa intercontinental como mundiales de clubes". conmebol.com (in Spanish). 29 October 2017.
- “While it does not promote the statistical unification of tournaments, that is, has not absorbed to the Intercontinental Cup (merged with FIFA Club World Cup in 2005), the title was conferred by an official document from the world federation so it is legally a FIFA world title" cfr. "FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019™" (PDF). p. 12. cfr.
- foxsports.com.br (30 March 2017). "Rodrigo Bueno: Por que com ou sem oficialização o título do Palmeiras não chegou a ser Mundial" (in Portuguese).
- foxsports.com.br (2 April 2017). "Rodrigo Bueno: Copa Rio foi torneio importante, mas não Mundial, veja por que" (in Portuguese).
- "65 anos da Copa Rio de 1951: lembre 14 fatos e curiosidades do Mundial do Palmeiras". goal.com (in Portuguese).
- "COPA RIO - TORNEIO INTERNACIONAL DE CAMPEÕES". Campeoesdofutebol.com.br (in Portuguese). 22 February 2015.
- "Palmeiras pediu ajuda da Conmebol para reconhecer 1951 como Mundial". Correiodoestado.com.br/FOX SPORTS (in Portuguese). 15 June 2018.
- "Fifa reconhece títulos mundiais de Flamengo, Grêmio, Santos e São Paulo". globoesporte.globo.com (in Portuguese). 27 October 2017.
- clicrbs.com.br, ed. (30 March 2007). "Fluminense também quer título de campeão mundial" (in Portuguese).
- "Joseph Blatter: 'Palmeiras foi o primeiro campeão mundial de clubes'". ESPN (in Portuguese). Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- "Dossiê Mundial 52 (Redação)". OBSERVATORIO DO FLU (in Portuguese). Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- "Blatter diz que Fifa vai reconhecer Palmeiras como campeão mundial". Folha de S.Paulo. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- web.archive.org, ed. (27 April 2007). "FIFA aún no confirmó título mundial para Palmeiras" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 15 April 2008.
- "Approval for Refereeing Assistance Programme and upper altitude limit for FIFA competitions". FIFA. 15 December 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
- "Para Fifa, só Mundiais de Clubes a partir de 2000 são títulos 'oficiais' - Esportes - Estadão". Estadão (in Portuguese). Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- "Fifa parabeniza Palmeiras por ser '1º campeão intercontinental de clubes' - Futebol - UOL Esporte". UOL Esporte (in Portuguese). Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- "Fifa diz que títulos antes do Mundial de 2000 não são considerados oficiais". globoesporte.globo.com (in Portuguese). 27 January 2017.
- dictionary.com. "Official, definition".
- dictionary.cambridge.org. "official".
- thesaurus.com. "Synonyms for official".
- “While it does not promote the statistical unification of tournaments, that is, has not absorbed to the Intercontinental Cup (merged with FIFA Club World Cup in 2005), the title was conferred by an official document from the world federation so it is legally a FIFA world title" cfr. "FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019™" (PDF). p. 12. cfr.
- FIFA in its statute recognizes as official all competitions organized by itself and by continental confederations; in fact, on his website, he calls competitions played under his auspices simply "FIFA Tournaments". cfr. FIFA (27 April 2016). "FIFA Statutes, April 2016 edition" (PDF). p. 5. cfr. FIFA.COM. "Fifa tournaments".
- "Competencias oficiales de la CONMEBOL". Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (in Spanish). 2011. pp. 99, 107. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
- "Competiciones oficiales de la CONMEBOL". Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (in Spanish). 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
- "FIFA Statute" (PDF). p. 5.
- torcedores.com, ed. (10 April 2019). "Em encontro com Bolsonaro em Brasília, presidente da Fifa reafirma não reconhecer Flu e Palmeiras como campeões mundiais" (in Portuguese).
- uol.com.br, ed. (10 April 2019). "Para milagres, pergunte a outro, diz Infantino sobre mundial do Palmeiras" (in Portuguese).
- Corriere dello Sport: Claudio Carsughi - Tra Rio de Janeiro e San Paolo l´avvio del "Torneo dei Campioni" - página 3(acervo), 30 June 1951
- La Stampa Per Boniperti, Parola ed Altafini sarà una tournée piena di ricordi e nostalgie, 30 de junho de 1975 - página: 10
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)