Brazil’s jersey is arguably the most famous and recognized kit in football.
The yellow and green shirt is synonymous
with a skillful, dazzling and daring style of play.
Internationally the jersey represents the most successful team in World Cup history.
Brazil were the first country to lift the trophy three, four and FIVE times!
But in Brazil, the shirt’s meaning has shifted.
The jersey once made famous by the likes of Pele and Ronaldo
has become the symbol of a divided nation.
So if Brazil is known as the country of football,
why do so many Brazilians refuse to wear their countries's national colors?
To better understand, we need to look at the history of the national team,
which in the past did not wear their famous yellow and green shirt.
Brazil used to play in an all-white strip
but all that changed after hosting the World Cup in 1950.
As hosts, Brazil were favorites and went into the final game
with a big chance to lift the trophy.
A reported 200,000 were present at the Maracana stadium
expecting to witness Brazil’s coronation.
They only needed a draw but Brazil ended up losing the match 2-1 to Uruguay.
Losing the World Cup on home soil was such a national tragedy
that it triggered months, if not years of mourning in Brazil.
The change to the canary yellow kit might have been symbolic, but it delivered results.
While sporting the flag’s colors,
Brazil went on to win the World Cup in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
And that was just the start to their dominance of the tournament.
They had a dry patch in the late 70s and 80s.
But in 1994, Brazil lifted the World Cup trophy
for the fourth time once again wearing the yellow shirt.
And in 2002 the team sealed their fifth World Cup title in this color combination.
Sportswear giant Nike has sponsored the Brazilian national team since 1996.
And it didn’t take long for Nike to tap
into the mysticism and success of Brazilian football.
Entire ad campaigns revolving around Brazil’s creative
and beautiful style of play take place year after year.
Always highlighting the yellow jersey as a source of pride.
In the mid-2000s, it even inspired video games
focusing on the flair and trickery of Brazilian street football.
O Jogo Bonito.
Brazil’s national team turned into a major lucrative business.
In other words, it became a money-making machine.
But the money came at a cost.
Executives at the Brazilian football confederation
took full advantage of the national team’s popularity.
In 2012, they organized the 'Brasil Global Tour' which consisted
of a series of friendly matches up until the 2022 World Cup.
According to the tour’s website it all has been a marketing success,
but it often left much more to be desired on the sporting side.
The tour also left many local supporters disillusioned.
It isn’t really a mystery, why.
Out of a total of 60 games, only 11 of them were played in Brazil
in order to maximize profits abroad.
On top of that, a corruption scandal hit Brazilian football
tainting the yellow shirt even more.
Many officials at the Brazilian FA were found guilty
of using the national team as their personal cash-cow.
Many had been part of the organizing committee
for the 2014 World Cup, which Brazil hosted.
Thousands took to the streets of major Brazilian cities
dressed in the colors of the flag to protest
the government spending millions to host the World Cup.
Many used their yellow kit as a symbol of patriotism.
But the World Cup that Brazil so desperately wanted and needed to win,
turned into a nightmare.
The hosts reached the semifinal.
It was a match Brazil fans will never forget, for all the wrong reasons.
Never in 100 years of footballing history, had Brazil suffered
such a crushing defeat as their 7-1 loss to Germany.
When Germany put a fifth goal in the net
after less than 30 minutes of play, it all became too much.
Some cried, some booed and hundreds simply left the stadium.
Humiliated and angry, fans couldn’t have imagined
a worse way to exit the tournament.
The protests that originally were against high public transportation
and World Cup costs continued after the tournament.
The protesters’ demands changed, yet the colors remained the same.
In 2015, protesters wearing the jersey called for
the impeachment of then-President Dilma Rousseff.
And they succeeded. She was eventually ousted from office.
In 2018, the colors were again seen out in the country’s streets.
Only this time they had been seized by groups
in favor of then presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro.
He is an outspoken far-right politician
who is known for his often controversial and polarizing views.
Bolsonaro ended up winning the election.
His campaign was notorious for the way it used national symbols
such as the flag, the anthem and Brazil’s famous yellow shirt.
Yellow and green are key colors at Bolsonaro’s rallies,
with his supporters wearing the Brazilian jersey to show political allegiance.
The shirt’s political symbolism has further alienated fans
of the national team and divided the nation.
Critics of Bolsonaro say the iconic yellow jersey has become
tarnished by its close association with the far-right movement.
One of those critics is former player Walter Casagrande.
He was part of the Brazil squad at the 1986 World Cup.
However, other former players such as Ronaldinho and Rivaldo
have openly shown their support for Bolsonaro.
Even active players have announced their support for the far-right politician.
Neymar, Brazil’s star player shared a video
backing Bolsonaro just a few days before the 2022 elections.
And yet he wonders why the national team
isn’t as popular across the board in the country?
Adoption of the shirt by the radical right inspired a campaign
to re-embrace the white jersey used until 1950.
In 2019, Nike did launch a white kit for the Brazilian national team.
Yet the sports manufacturer claimed it only aimed to celebrate
the 100th anniversary of Brazil’s first Copa America title won in 1919.
Remember? Back then the team wore white.
When Nike unveiled a new Brazil kit for the 2022 World Cup,
it did so focusing on the shirt’s jaguar print
honoring the country’s wildlife,
an effort to distance the jersey from politics.
Ahead of the 2022 World Cup, a new campaign had been under way
to reclaim the shirt from the far-right.
Brazilian artists such as rapper Djonga
and singer Ludmilla have worn the yellow jersey on stage.
Djonga, who was part of Nike’s official campaign for the World Cup kit
told a crowd at a concert that wearing the shirt in public was an act of protest.
Bolsonaro lost his re-election bid in October 2022.
Brahma, a Brazilian beer, which has sponsored the national team,
released an ad campaign for the 2022 World Cup.
The video features Galvao Bueno, a popular football commentator
asking fans to wear their yellow kits.
Brazilian sports manufacturer Volt has made kits in the national colors
for the various clubs it sponsors in Brazil’s top football divisions.
They have used the slogan ‘100 percent Brazil’
to inspire supporters to wear the colors once again.
What will happen with football’s most famous jersey?
What do you think?
Can Brazil and its people reclaim their shirt and their national pride?