| Competition: | Campeonato Carioca |
| Season: | 1971 |
| Winners: | Fluminense |
| Continentalcup1: | Campeonato Nacional |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Vasco da Gama Flamengo Fluminense América Botafogo |
| League Topscorer: | Paulo César Caju (Botafogo) - 11 goals |
| Biggest Home Win: | Vasco da Gama 3-0 São Cristóvão (March 16, 1971) Olaria 4-1 Campo Grande (April 4, 1971) Olaria 3-0 Bonsucesso (May 14, 1971) Olaria 3-0 América (May 22, 1971) América 3-0 Vasco da Gama (May 29, 1971) |
| Biggest Away Win: | São Cristóvão 0-5 Flamengo (March 31, 1971) |
| Highest Scoring: | Bangu 3-5 América (March 30, 1971) |
| Matches: | 91 |
| Total Goals: | 194 |
| Prevseason: | 1970 |
| Nextseason: | 1972 |
The 1971 edition of the Campeonato Carioca kicked off on March 6, 1971 and ended on June 27, 1971. It was organized by FCF (Federação Carioca de Futebol, or Carioca Football Federation). Twelve teams participated. Fluminense won the title for the 20th time. no teams were relegated.[1] [2]
The tournament would be divided in two stages:
The regulations also had stipulated that the qualification for the National Championship later that year would be partially defined by revenue, with the four teams with the best revenue qualifying along with the champion. The qualification for the Taça Guanabara would also follow similar criteria. However, that criterion proved controversial, as Olaria began complaining about the federation supposedly favouring its competitors, América and Bangu, and eventually that criterion was scrapped altogether, after the retail chain bought all the tickets for Olaria's last home match against Flamengo, in Maracanã, guaranteeing Olaria fifth place in the revenue ranking and prompting protests from América and Bangu. In the end, América was invited to the National Championship in the place of Olaria, who withdrew from the Taça Guanabara as well.[3]