Football : Brazil’s Opium of the
People
Over the past week my knowledge
of the soccer industry in Brazil has grown exponentially. We have had the
opportunity to listen to and question some important personnel in two of the
three major football clubs here in Curitiba; Atletico Paranense, and Coritiba.
Although these interactions have been very educational they have left me with a
strongly negative outlook on the way soccer is structured in Brazil. Both clubs
boast Brazil’s success on a world stage, with Brazil being the owner of 5 world
cup titles, higher than any other country. They also describe Brazil as the
most successful breeding ground for the world’s finest players. As impressive
as these stats are, my resentment towards these clubs comes from the socially
imperialistic tone that the larger Brazilian football clubs exude which mirrors
the historical situation of neighbouring South American countries.
The imperialistic implications of
football stem from one fact, in South America football was originally a sport
of the Angliophillic white man. Acting as a parallel to football in Brazil,
David Wood’s paper “A study of Soccer in Peru” outlines the use of football in
Peru as an imperialistic tactic, to insure the integration of the lower class
into society under the rules of the upper class. Wood describes the first
integration of the lower class into football as a means to teach them ideals such
as teamwork, dedication, understanding of ones role in a group, and a good work
ethic all of which were traits the elite class believed to be necessary for the
upcoming industrialization of the country.
The second imperialistic move in
Peru came when a revolutionary realization was made. The lower class possessed
a real talent for football, one which if handled correctly could be exploited.
It’s argued that the advantageous edge that many South American’s have in the
football world is due to their dance culture, which incorporates, fast footwork
and quick hip movement, all of which can be transferred onto the football pitch.
Regardless of where it came from one fact stood true large European owned clubs
could benefit from incorporating this new talent, and under the façade of a
push for social inclusion, in the mid-20th century, lower class
footballers were finally incorporated into national clubs.
Now turning back to the current
situation in Brazil we can see that history has a tendency to repeat itself,
and the use of football within current Brazilian culture reflects that of Peru.
In order to understand the social injustices acted out by the Brazilian clubs
we must first have a general understanding of the current situation here in
Brazil. The 2011 census revealed that the majority of Brazilian citizens (53%)
are of black or mixed race. However this portion of the population still
remains underrepresented in the economic world, with only 16% of the richest 1%
of Brazilians being of a race other than European (Edgerton, Panja 2014). The
removal of the majority non-European class from the economic nobility shows
that Brazil is still a country controlled by the European elite. As such,
society functions around benefitting the elite class at the expense of the
poor, a concept which flows into all aspects of society, including football
mainly through the large clubs.
I was first exposed to the
imperialistic setup of Brazilian Football clubs while learning about their
youth development programs. In both Atletico and Coritiba I began to notice a remarkable
lack of concern for the wellbeing of their youth athletes as anything more than
commodities being primed for sale. In a country where the gap between the rich
and the poor is insurmountable many children view football as their only hope
for a better life, and both clubs passed themselves off as the saviours of the
underprivileged youth. Originally blinded by their expressed commitment to
saving the children of Brazil, through the sport which I have grown up loving,
I lapped up their propaganda naively. However as they continued to explain
their youth development programs the visage of a commitment to social
responsibility quickly shattered and began to mirror the need for new talent
which was experienced in Peru during the mid-20th century.
As exemplified by Atletico the
current practice is for clubs to remove children from their homes around the age
of 14 and bring them to their club’s training facility. Although the club claims
to provide these children with an education, mentorship on how to be a
successful member of society and, top of the line football training, when
questioned further only one of these promises appears to hold true. Atletico
outright admits that education comes second to a child’s potential football
career. Although this may seem reasonable at a professional level, we must
remember that these are children as young as 14, and with less than 2% of the
athletes admitted into the training program making it the professional level
the dream of making it as a footballer is far from a reality for most. In
regards to creating functional members of society, after drooped by the club
many of these children are left unprepared and under educated about the real
world and as a result find themselves lost in a world of drugs and
homelessness. This treatment of young athletes brought me to realize that these
clubs had little personal ties to these children who they claimed to be saving
from poverty, but instead saw them as bargaining chips that if properly
sculpted could bring them the riches they so desperately sought after.
When comparing the current
situation in Brazil to that of Peru I see direct similarities. Just as football
was first implemented in Peru as a form of Imperialism aimed at teaching morals
to the lower class to benefit the wealthy, so too is the current situation in
Brazilian culture. However, rather than priming the lower class for an economic
revolution as Peru did, Brazil is focusing on creating a fragile and easily
controllable lower class. By teaching young players to focus on their football
career rather than attaining a sufficient education, Brazilian football clubs
are destroying the foundation needed by the lower class to better themselves,
then swooping in as the saviours in order to benefit themselves. With little
education young members of the lower class have no other means of obtaining the
social goals of wealth and success which is measured based on the elite class’s
standards. As such they are forced to buy into the large soccer clubs marketing,
which promises the only opportunity for a chance at these social goal, and thus
providing the large football clubs with a cheap and easily obtainable pool of
talent.
Put shortly, Da Silva exposes the
truth of how soccer has been used as an imperialistic control method in Brazil.
Silva states that at a 2013 confederations cup final between Brazil and Spain
“the only black faces were among the players on the field and the cleaners in
the bathroom”. This fact exhibits the distention of realities between the
dreams of the local youth and the actualities of football here in Brazil. Silva
shows how Brazilian football is really the opium of the people here in Brazil.
It acts as a social smokescreen by creating the illusion of social equality,
when really the entire football organization is based on using the lower class
as a means for accumulation of wealth for the elite.
Pretty good analysis
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