When Brazil captain Sócrates led Corinthians to the 1983 Sao Paulo state title, two years
before the end of the country’s military dictatorship,
they celebrated by parading with a banner that read: “Win
or lose, but always with democracy.” Fast forward 35 years and the political discourse
in Brazil was very different.
Last September, Felipe Melo dedicated his goal for Palmeiras against Bahia to far-right
presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro. A month later, Bolsonaro
won the election with 55 per cent of the vote. A
cheerleader for the dictatorship, the former army captain dedicated his vote in the 2016
impeachment of president Dilma Rousseff to a colonel who headed a torture unit that brutalised
Rousseff and other captured leftists in the 1970s. Bolsonaro’s only criticism of the
1964-85 regime was that it did not kill enough people.
But Melo is far from alone among footballers in his admiration for the new president. Tottenham’s
Lucas Moura has defended Bolsonaro on Twitter, retired legends Ronaldinho, Rivaldo, Kaká
and Cafu have joined the chorus, while Neymar,
Gabriel Jesus and Alisson have “liked” pro-Bolsonaro
social media posts. For prominent Brazilian sports columnist Juca
Kfouri, none of this is surprising. “In Brazil top
sportsmen who have become rich worry only about the safety of their cars, their houses,
their families, and are very much affected by discussions
about security, and also by macho discourse –
everything that Bolsonaro did during his campaign.” There have been critics of Bolsonaro in Brazilian
football, the most notable being former Lyon and
Vasco da Gama midfielder Juninho Pernambucano, who shone a light on how the new president
has divided the public – and even families – across
Brazil. “Bolsonaro has showed us that those who sit
to eat with us are closet fascists… it could be any relative, or a friend. Reactionaries
will not be welcome in my house.”
For Mauricio Murad, head of the Sociology of Football Centre at Rio de Janeiro State
University, the fact that footballers are expressing social
opinions at all is progress. “This is very rare in Brazil,
sadly,” he says. “I believe the players should reveal their positions on our social,
political, economic and cultural questions more often, because
they are so problematic and so much in need of
solutions.” Bolsonaro has presented himself as the solution:
a political outsider determined to end the corruption of a liberal elite that, he believes,
wasted public money on social programmes and afforded undue human rights to criminals.
But he does not seem intent on confronting one of the
biggest symbols of corruption in Brazil: the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). In
December he accepted its invitation to present Palmeiras
with the championship trophy, putting on the club’s
shirt and grinning as he received a salute from Melo. Team-mate Willian Bigode appeared
to pass on shaking Bolsonaro’s hand, although he
later claimed not to have seen the president-elect in front
of him. Folha de S.Paulo reported that the event was
part of a charm offensive by the CBF, whose last three
presidents have been accused by the FBI of accepting bribes, to protect itself by forging
closer links with the new government.
Bolsonaro was warmly greeted by Palmeiras coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, who saluted and
embraced him. National team coach Tite seemed unimpressed.
Asked a few days later if he would take his players to meet Bolsonaro before this year’s
Copa América, Tite ("Chi - Chey”) said no, explaining
that he preferred not to mix sport with politics but referring to “a series of ethics and
morals”. Bolsonaro drew boos from some sections of
the crowd, although these were just about drowned out
by cheers. Such scenes have been witnessed at other matches, sometimes even among supporters
of the same club. While some Atlético Mineiro
fans have chanted homophobic slurs in support of
Bolsonaro, the leader of the biggest Corinthians supporters’ group, Gavioes da Fiel, warned
members who backed Bolsonaro, who “goes against all of our ideals”, to reconsider
their membership. Sixty-nine fan groups backed Bolsonaro’s
election rival, Fernando Haddad. The clubs may have something greater to fear.
As part of his crackdown on public spending, Bolsonaro has pledged to re-evaluate all sponsorship
deals signed by Caixa Economica Federal, a government-owned bank that backed 25 teams
in the top two divisions last year. But with Bolsonaro pushing ahead with election
promises, such as loosening gun laws in a country
already traumatised by violence, Brazilians have more to worry about than football club
finances.
What would Sócrates make of it all? “He would be horrified and he would be speaking
out
and fighting,” said Kfouri.