Carioca trophy named after ex-Flamengo boss, competition prizes revealed | OneFootball

Carioca Championship was officially launched this Thursday (08)

The Carioca Championship will begin next weekend. Flamengo debuts on Sunday (11), against Portuguesa. If they win the competition, the Most Beloved will lift the Washington Rodrigues Cup, the Apolinho, a legend of Rio's radio and former coach of Mengão, who passed away in 2024.

The opening ceremony of the competition took place this Thursday (08), at the Brazilian Jockey Club. The big news announced is the return of prizes for the champions. In the last two years, when Flamengo took the cup, there was no money.

WHAT IS THE PRIZE VALUE OF THE CARIOCA?

Additionally, the champion will receive R$ 10 million and the runner-up will pocket R$ 5 million. There are also amounts for classification in the quarterfinals and semifinals, but these stages were not disclosed by the Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation (FERJ).

At one point during the ceremony, the president of FERJ, Rubens Lopes, mentioned a player from Flamengo to praise the Carioca Championship. “It is the strongest state championship in Brazil. Paraphrasing Bruno Henrique, Rio is on another level,” he said.

WHO IS APOLINHO?

Honored by the Carioca 2025, Apolinho made history in Rio's radio. The ‘Old Apollo’ coined phrases like “big dog fight” and “happier than a pig in mud.” Moreover, the legend of Brazilian media introduced the expression “chocolate” to refer to a game that ended in a rout.

In a surprising move at the time, Apolinho left radio to take on the technical command of Flamengo, no less than in the club's centennial year: 1995. He led the team in 26 games, with 11 wins, eight draws, and seven losses. The best performance was in the now-defunct Supercopa of the Libertadores, where they finished in second place, losing the final to Independiente (ARG).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.