[2] During the 1960s, two tournaments were used to pick Brazil's representative at the Copa Libertadores: Taça Brasil (1959-1968), a single-elimination tournament between the state champions; and Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa (1967-1970), divided in two separate group phases with teams mostly from the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
Both tournaments had a format that barely covered the entire country and had regional phases that diminished fan support, leading to dissatisfaction from both the team owners and the Brazilian Confederation of Sports (CBD), who organized the championship.
[3] The format of the national tournament was still close to the 1970 Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa, with the state of Ceará being the only addition to the seven featured in the Robertão's final edition.
Some of the shunned federation states, led by Goiás, even created their own parallel national tournament, the Torneio Integração da CBD.
[4] The season was divided into three phases: Twenty clubs participated in this championship (home city in parentheses):