The World Cup in Qatar starts in a month and Neymar’s Seleçao is one of the favorites, but a shopkeeper who decorated his street in Belo Horizonte (southeast) preferred to cut short any misunderstanding.
And for good reason. The yellow and green of Brazilian flags and football shirts are omnipresent in the campaign of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who is contesting the second round of the presidential election on October 30 against the former left-wing head of state Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
“It’s a shame that the World Cup is taking place so close to the election. I had to put up this banner so that people understand that these pennants are not there to show any support for a candidate”, explains to AFP Julio César Freitas, 26, who works in his father’s construction equipment store.
Despite the political polarization, he did not want to miss the opportunity to participate in the decorations competition of his district in which his family has participated since the 1994 World Cup, when Brazil won the fourth of the five stars of champion which adorn his jersey.
“When I started hanging up my flags it caused some commotion, but from the moment I put up the sign the same people who had taken me to task started congratulating me,” says- he.
– Loss of identity –
In other cities across the country, many bar managers preferred to wait to decorate their establishments.
“As a trader, I prefer to avoid any misunderstanding. We bought Brazil shirts for the waiters, but it’s not the time for them to wear them yet,” assured Décio Lemos, owner of a bar in Sao Paulo, to the daily O Globo.
The political appropriation of the colors of the Brazilian flag has intensified since Jair Bolsonaro came to power in 2019, but it already existed in 2015, during demonstrations demanding the dismissal of left-wing president Dilma Rousseff, runner-up to Lula.
Mr. Bolsonaro called on his voters to vote with a Seleçao jersey on October 30, which would complicate the task of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), which is trying somehow to prevent any political recovery.
The equipment supplier Nike had to put in place a new rule for its online sales: no right to order flocking in the name of a candidate, or his nickname, like “Mito” (the myth) for Bolsonaro.
“These days, people link everything to politics and we end up losing the identity of our jersey and our flag,” lamented striker Richarlison, last month, after a League of Nations match. Champions with Tottenham.
Many Brazilians say they no longer want to wear the national team jersey for fear of being attacked or being taken for bolsonarists.
Beyond the political tensions, the Seleçao has not been popular in recent years, in a country that is nevertheless crazy about football.
Audiences for the national team’s matches on television have fallen and some home matches have struggled to fill up. Last August, a survey by the Datafolha institute showed that 51% of Brazilians were not interested – for the moment, at least – in the World Cup.
A lack of love due, among other things, to the trauma of the 7-1 beating against Germany at the 2014 World Cup or to the fact that most internationals play in Europe, far from the supporters.
Not to mention that Neymar and his bling-bling style are far from unanimous. And the Paris SG star has increased his number of detractors by openly supporting Jair Bolsonaro.
A favorite in the polls, Lula claimed in July that the colors of Brazil had been “sequestered by fascism”.
To reclaim them, he invites his supporters to come in yellow and green to his meetings, with mixed success. The rare yellow t-shirts often have a “Lula” inscription or a design with the image of the left-wing candidate to avoid any misunderstanding.
Sports historian Joao Malaia, however, believes that the divisions will disappear during the World Cup. “When the Seleçao go to play, most people will want to see them win and the party can go on,” he summarizes.
