By Tim Vickery BBC Sport Online

From the start of Brazil's election campaign the outcome of was never in doubt - but the national football championship is a different matter.

For over a year the pollsters have been pointing the way.

After eight years of Fernando Henrique Cardoso's administration the desire for change was overwhelming, and government candidiate Jose Serra was always facing an uphill struggle.

Brazil's economic crisis tipped the balance in favour of Lula - but has levelled the playing field in the national sport.

Presidential candidate Lula da Silva

Because when money is scarce, the big clubs find it difficult to press home an advantage against smaller rivals.

Their receipts are all down, whether from ticket sales, sponsorship deals or TV, but the pressure from the terraces is as huge as ever.

In a collective sport such as football it means that a small, well-organised team can compete on equal terms with the traditional giants.

In three weeks the first phase of the Brazilian Championship will come to an end and at this point all 26 teams will have played each other once.

The top eight will go through to the knockout stage, and the bottom four will be relegated.

And the line between success and failure is as thin as a bikini on Copacabana beach.

At the moment the team in eighth place, Vitoria of Bahia, have 28 points, and the team in 23rd, Gama of Brasilia, have 22 points.

Just six points currently separate qualification from relegation - a margin which can be made up in a week.

War on two fronts

It all makes for an exciting competition, because there is no such thing as a dead game.

There are 14 clubs in the middle, the majority of whom are fighting a war on two fronts.

They take the field with a predator's eye on the teams above and a fearful glance at the team's below.

Only a handful of clubs have lost all hope of making the top eight.

Avoiding relegation is now their only objective - and among them are some of the big names of Brazilian football.

Palmeiras were Brazil's most consistent team of the 1990s, and were champions of South America just three years ago.

Now they are at the bottom of the table and running out of time to save themselves.

Also in the relegation zone are Botafogo, one of the Rio de Janeiro giants.

Together with Santos, Botafogo provided the spine of Brazil's World Cup winning sides of 1958, 62 and 70.

Relegation zone

They were champions seven years ago but their current team is a dismal affair and without an excellent goalkeeper they would aleady be down.

There seems little chance of both Palmeiras and Botafogo pulling clear of danger - they meet on Wednesday.

The loser will be very close to the edge of the cliff and a draw will provoke a climate of mutual despair.

And if one of the stricken giants does manage to make it to safety, then it could well be at the expense of another traditional power.

Flamengo, Vasco da Gama and Cruzeiro are all just outside the relegation zone.

Normally conservative Brazil is being turned upside down.

A former factory worker will be the next president, while football's aristocrats scramble to avoid the second division.