1996 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A

The 1996 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A was the 40th edition of the

Bragantino in Série A after the season was over due to the leak of transcripts of recorded telephone conversations broadcast in TV Globo suggested that, during the 1996 season, Atlético-PR and Corinthians general managers Mario Celso Petraglia and Alberto Dualib had conversations with the head of officials of Brazilian football to influence referee appointments. The scandal resulted in a mild individual punishment only, not like similar scandal in Italy where Juventus

was relegated and others important clubs were punished.

Final stage was played in elimination system with home-and-away matches. The club with better record during first stage had the advantage to qualify in case of a draw. In the end,

Grêmio won their second championship in history based on this rule. They were defeated by runners-up Portuguesa 2–0 at Morumbi Stadium, but came back on second leg, winning by the same score at their home ground, Olímpico Stadium in Porto Alegre

.

Standings and results

First stage

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Cruzeiro	23	13	5	5	31	17	+14	44	Qualified for next stage
2	Guarani	23	13	4	6	23	14	+9	43
3	Palmeiras	23	12	7	4	42	20	+22	43
4	Atlético Paranaense	23	12	3	8	41	28	+13	39
5	Atlético Mineiro	23	12	3	8	39	32	+7	39
6	Grêmio	23	11	5	7	42	27	+15	38
7	Goiás	23	11	4	8	37	27	+10	37
8	Portuguesa	23	11	3	9	32	29	+3	36
9	Internacional	23	10	5	8	31	27	+4	35
10	Sport	23	10	5	8	32	31	+1	35
11	São Paulo	23	9	8	6	39	32	+7	35
12	Corinthians	23	7	11	5	20	19	+1	32
13	Flamengo	23	9	3	11	24	31	−7	30
14	Coritiba	23	9	3	11	25	30	−5	29^[a]
15	Vitória	23	8	5	10	32	39	−7	29
16	Paraná	23	8	4	11	26	30	−4	28
17	Botafogo	23	7	7	9	33	35	−2	28
18	Vasco da Gama	23	8	3	12	37	43	−6	27
19	Juventude	23	8	3	12	31	37	−6	27
20	Santos	23	7	6	10	26	31	−5	27
21	Criciúma	23	6	5	12	31	39	−8	23
22	Bahia	23	5	8	10	25	35	−10	23
23	Fluminense	23	6	4	13	26	50	−24	22	Relegated to Série B 1997
24	Bragantino	23	5	4	14	26	48	−22	19	Relegated to Série B 1997

Source: ^[citation needed]
Notes:

^ 1 point deducted?

Final stage

Quarter-finals				Semi-finals			Finals

1	Cruzeiro	0	1

8	Portuguesa	3	0
				Atlético Mineiro	0	2

				Portuguesa	1	2
4	Atlético Mineiro	3	0

5	Atlético (PR)	1	1
							Portuguesa	2	0

							Grêmio	0	2
2	Palmeiras	1	1

7	Grêmio	3	0
				Grêmio	3	2

				Goiás	1	2
3	Goiás	3	0

6	Guarani	1	1

Grêmio

won based on their better record during first stage.

Campeonato Brasileiro 1996 champions
Grêmio 2nd title

Top scorers

#	Player	Team	Goals
1	Paulo Nunes	Grêmio	16
1	Renaldo	Atlético Mineiro	16
3	Túlio	Botafogo	13
3	Paulo Rink	Atlético Paranaense	13
5	Djalminha	Palmeiras	12
5	Aílton	Guarani	12
7	Oséas	Atlético Paranaense	11
	Müller	São Paulo
	Mabilia	Criciúma
	Leandro Machado	Internacional
	Rodrigo Fabri	Portuguesa

[table_hth_CRT0.56830134874596-1] 1 point deducted?

[a]