Played between October and December 2001, the competition had twelve participant clubs made up of under-23 players, who were selected partly on the basis of their beauty.

An attendant collapse in sponsorship and funding led to clubs including São Paulo FC closing their professional women's sections.

The women's football scene in Brazil remained conspicuously underdeveloped: lacking visibility, resources and proper structure.

[2][3][4] The previous four editions of the Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Feminino had been run by a private company, Sport Promotion.

[6] The three clubs (Matonense, Guarani and Portuguesa) had wanted to keep their existing rosters instead of using the young players assigned to them from the FPF trials.

This meant that some experienced professional players who had not moved to the United States and were now excluded at home were forced out of football altogether.

[13] Official promotional materials for the competition prominently featured actress Patrícia de Sabrit on the cover, alongside the slogan: "novo futebol feminino" (English: new women's football).

[5] In September 2017 the FPF publicly acknowledged that the 2001 edition had been "uma experiência ruim" (English: a bad experience), but stressed that it had been presided over by a previous administration.

[19] Nevertheless, the winning Palmeiras coach Marcello Frigério remained proud of the success, particularly since it was achieved with an inexperienced team put together at very short notice.