The Rio de Janeiro Basketball Championship launch takes place in Gávea
The event was attended by representatives of the five clubs, as well as the master sponsor and the president of the Rio Federation
By Helena Petry - inOn Monday afternoon (24), the Rogerio Steinberg auditorium, in Gávea, hosted the Launch of the Rio de Janeiro Basketball Championship. Broadcast live by Fla TV, the event was attended by the Vice-President of Olympic Sports of Mais Querido, Delano Franco; the Director of the Department, Marcelo Vido; the president of the Rio de Janeiro Federation, Daniel Riente; and Luiz Otávio Nazar, owner of the Ingá General Hospital, master sponsor of the competition.
Fred Coelho, coach of Niterói Basquete Clube; Marcio Guimarães, director of Tijuca Tênis Clube; and Antonildo Morais, of Clube Desportivo Atitude, were also present. Club Municipal rounds out the participants in the championship, which, for the first time in eight years, will feature five teams.
Rubro-Negro's Vice-President, Delano Franco, opened the press conference by thanking Hospital do Ingá.
"From Flamengo's perspective, it's a great joy to have these special conditions that give us peace of mind as we resume basketball activities in the Campeonato Carioca. We're confident it will be a very well-organized championship that complies with the regulations established by the authorities regarding COVID-19 prevention," said the director.
The Rio de Janeiro State Basketball Championship will be the first competition in an Olympic sport to return after being suspended due to the new coronavirus pandemic.
"We had the support of the NBA and the ACB League, and I'm very happy to be participating in this event. I'd like to thank the clubs and the Federation. It's going to be a really cool championship," commented Marcelo Vido.
Four-time consecutive champion and holder of 45 state titles, Mais Querido will host the competition, which will take place between September 28 and October 4. The championship, the first challenge of the 2020/21 FlaBasquete season, will be broadcast on FlaTV.
The basketball teams of Clube de Regatas do Flamengo rely on resources from their sponsors – BRB, TIM, AmBev, Rede D'or, IRB Brasil RE, CSN, Brasil Plural, EY – via the Federal Incentive Law/Ministry of Sports (IR) and State Incentive Law/State Secretariat of Sports, Leisure and Youth (Seelje) of Rio de Janeiro, in addition to support from the Brazilian Club Committee (CBC).