The 2023 Campeonato Pernambucano (officially the Pernambucano da Série A1 de 2023) was the 109th edition of the state championship of Pernambuco organized by FPF. The championship began on 7 January and ended on 22 April 2022. Náutico were the defending champions but they were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Originally four teams would be promoted from the 2022 Campeonato Pernambucano Série A2 and the 2023 Campeonato Pernambucano would be contested by 12 teams.[1] On 13 November 2022, Central, Maguary, Petrolina and Porto advanced to the semi-finals of the 2022 Série A2 and were promoted to the 2023 Campeonato Pernambucano.[2] However Petrolina were denounced before the Tribunal de Justiça Desportiva de Pernambuco (TJD-PE) for fielding the ineligible player Raykar in the match Maguary v Petrolina played on 8 November 2022 (Third stage, 1st round). Petrolina were deducted four points and sanctioned with a fine of R$3,000 after they were punished, on 22 November 2022, by the TJD-PE and Belo Jardim were promoted instead of Petrolina.[3] Petrolina appealed the decision to the Superior Tribunal de Justiça Desportiva (STJD) and, on 22 December 2022, the STJD overruled the decisions of the TJD-PE giving back the four points to Petrolina and confirming their promotion to the 2023 Série A1 instead of Belo Jardim.[4] Taking into account the possibility of a new appeal that could delay the beginning of the 2023 Campeonato Pernambucano until February 2023, the FPF organised a meeting, on 28 December 2022, with the qualified teams and decided that 13 teams would compete in the tournament including Belo Jardim.[5]
The tournament will be contested by 13 teams. The relegation stage will not be played and the bottom four teams of the first stage will be relegated to the 2023 Série A2.[6]
The schedule of the competition will be as follows.[9]
First Stage
Round 1:
7–8 January and TBD
Round 2:
11–12 January
Round 3:
14–16 January
Round 4:
17–19 January
Round 5:
24–26 January
Round 6:
28–30 January
Round 7:
1–2 February
Round 8:
4–8 February
Round 9:
11–12 February
Round 10:
25–26 February
Round 11:
11–12 March
Round 12:
18–19 March
Round 13:
1 April
Final Stages
Quarter-finals
5 April
Semi-finals
8 and 9 April
First leg
Second leg
Finals
15 April
22 April
First stage
In the first stage, each team played the other nine teams in a single round-robin tournament. The teams were ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, the following criteria would be used to determine the ranking: 1. Wins; 2. Goal difference; 3. Goals scored; 4. Fewest red cards; 5. Fewest yellow cards; 6. Draw in the headquarters of the FPF.[10]
Top two teams advanced to the semi-finals of the final stages, while teams from third to sixth places advanced to the quarter-finals. The bottom four teams were relegated to the 2023 Série A2.[11]
Top two teams not already qualified for 2024 Série A, Série B or Série C qualified for 2024 Série D.
