RIO DE JANEIRO: Vasco da Gama won the Carioca (Rio de Janeiro state) championship on Sunday in a final marred by 78 fouls and three red cards, including one for their coach Antonio Lopes after he threw the ball at an injured player and sparked a ten-minute brawl.
The incidents capped a chaotic weekend for Brazilian football, where Saturday's Paulista (Sao Paulo state) final had gone ahead even though there was no method for settling the two-leg game in the case of an aggregate draw.