Mauricio Oliveira SAO PAULO

We were wrong to state in a text published in LANCENET! on the 4th that Corinthians' fan base is the third largest in the state of Ceará, surpassing Flamengo's.

In fact, Flamengo has the largest number of fans, even ahead of the two biggest local clubs, Fortaleza and Ceará.

According to Datafolha's survey, Flamengo leads with 17% of mentions. Next come Fortaleza, Ceará, and then Corinthians, with 8% each. São Paulo and the Brazilian national team also received 7% of mentions.

In the capital of Ceará, Fortaleza, with 18%, and Ceará, 14%, compete for preference with Fla, which has 13%.

The final results of the research can be obtained on the institute's website (http://datafolha.folha.uol.com.br/po/ver_po.php?session=538).

The latest LANCE!-Ibope poll, conducted in 2004 and published in October of that year, also confirms that Flamengo has the largest fan base in the entire Northeast. Of those interviewed, 26,7% said they don't support any club.

1) Flamengo: 23,6% (11,8 million people)\ 2) Corinthians: 8,7% (4,3 million)\ 3) Palmeiras: 7,1% (3,5 million)\ 4) Vasco: 6,8% (3,4 million)\ 5) São Paulo: 5,6% (2,8 million)\ 6) Bahia: 4,1% (2 million)\ 7) Vitória: 3,5% (1,7 million)\