BAHIA

City Football Group welcomed Bahia as its latest addition to its family of clubs in May 2023. Bahia, a historic Brazilian Serie A team established in 1931, has defied expectations by winning two national titles. CFG now owns a 90% stake in the Club, further expanding its global presence in football.

The Club is based in Salvador, Brazil – the nation’s historic first capital – in the north-east of the football-mad country. The team plays at the 48,902-capacity Arena Fonte Nova stadium – refurbished for the 2014 World Cup – and trains at the Evaristo de Macedo facility. Bahia plays in the blue, white and red of the Bahia State flag (their nickname is ‘Tricolor’) and remains the most supported club in northern Brazil.

Bahia was formed as a result of the merger of two clubs – Associação Atlética and Bahiano de Tênis. In the 1959 season, they won their first Brasileirão (the national title) by defeating Santos, a team that featured the legendary Pelé among its ranks.

After seven consecutive regional titles in the 1970s, the team won their second Brazilian championship in 1988. This propelled them into the Copa Libertadores for the third time.

From 2011 until 2014, Bahia were in the first division, and though they went down again in 2014, the Club was back for the 2017 season. Another demotion followed in 2021, but a third-place finish in 2022 meant an immediate return to the top table for a Club that has won its state title an incredible 50 times and remains the only team outside the south of the country to win the national title twice.

Bahia established its Women's team in 2019 after successfully partnering with the local Lusaca team. In their first year, Bahia Women won the Bahian State Championship. Since then, the Club has won every state championship they have competed in, including the fourth consecutive state title in 2023. Nationally, Bahia Women have competed in the Brazilian Championship four times, twice in Serie B (2020 and 2022) achieving promotion in both years, and twice in Serie A. 

Bahia has participated twice in the youth divisions in the Brazilian Under-18 Championships in 2019 and 2021.

In February 2023, EC Bahia created a new entity, Esporte Clube Bahia SAF (Bahia SAF), to continue its impressive heritage with CFG as new ownership after 99% of Bahia members voted in favour of the acquisition.