Cars Set on Fire, Fans Invade Turf as Santos Get Relegated for first Time in History

Legendary footballer Pele’s former side Santos were relegated for the first time on Wednesday after conceding a 2-1 loss to Fortaleza at their home ground in the final round of Brazil’s Serie A.

The iconic club’s relegation was quite shocking and sparked a massive outrage among their fans.

To rub salt into the wounds, their cross-city rivals Palmeiras claimed the title on the very same day.

Following Santos’ demotion, enraged fans were seen setting fire to cars in the Brazilian port city. As per a report by The Sun, multiple Brazilian media outlets stated that one of the cars set alight belonged to Santos’ Colombian striker Stiven Mendoza.

Santos will not be able to feature in Brazil’s domestic cup next season after they failed to qualify through either their place in Serie A or Sao Paulo’s state championship.

“Second, sometimes. In the second [division], never,” read a placard held up by fans in the stadium.

According to a BBC report, police had to be deployed to fire tear gas in the streets to control the situation.

Santos, along with Sao Paulo and Flamengo, were one of the three sides who were never relegated from the Brazilian top-flight league.

A horrendous string of results saw Santos drop to 17th in the standings with 43 points under their belt from 18 matches. Moreover, Santos have been winless in their last five matches of the competition.

Overall, they succeeded in winning 11 of their domestic league matches this season.

A victory against Fortaleza would have been enough for Santos to avoid a relegation.

However, they conceded a late goal in the injury time at the Vila Belmiro, in front of their home fans, to endure a heart-breaking defeat.

The 96th-minute winner, scored by Juan Martin Lucero, ended Santos’ chances of remaining in the top flight of the league.

America Mineiro, Coritiba and Goias are the other three sides to have been relegated from the 20-team division of the Brazilian top-flight league.

Late Brazilian World Cup winner Pele was the greatest footballer ever to don the Santos jersey. During his time, Santos to become one of the most recognised clubs in global football.