    the campeonato carioca, officially known as campeonato estadual do rio de janeiro, is the annual football championship of rio de janeiro, brazil. it was first held in 1906 and is these days organised by the federaÃ§Ã£o de futebol do estado do rio de janeiro, the football federation of the state of rio de janeiro. the first season of the campeonato carioca was played in 1906 making it the third oldest league in brazil, with only the campeonato paulista of sÃ£o paulo and the campeonato baiano of bahia predating it. rivalries amongst four of the most prestigious brazilian teams (botafogo, flamengo, fluminense and vasco da gama) have marked the history of the competition. the oldest clubs from rio de janeiro (america, botafogo, flamengo, fluminense, sÃ£o cristÃ³vÃ£o, vasco da gama) had inspired the creation of many clubs from other states. fluminense is the team with the largest number of titles of the 20th century, with 28, being known as the "champion of the century". flamengo leads the new century with 8 titles and shares the overall counting with 33 titles. ==history== ===the early years=== in the beginning of the 20th century, the number of football clubs in rio de janeiro and niterÃ³i increased dramatically, clubs such as rio cricket and athletic association in niterÃ³i, fluminense football club in 1902, and bangu atlÃ©tico club, amÃ©rica football club, and botafogo football club in 1904 being founded. football became very popular, and a campaign was initiated to organize a football league bringing together clubs such as rio cricket and athletic association, fluminense football club, football and athletic club, america football club, bangu atlÃ©tico club, sport club petrÃ³polis and payssandu cricket club. on june
Campeonato_Carioca Football_leagues_in_Rio_de_Janeiro_(state)