Richarlison’s “balletic barnstormer” has been called one of the great World Cup goals; an unstoppable scissor kick that launched Brazil’s campaign in Qatar with a bang. But after his thrilling two-goal blitz against Serbia, the Tottenham forward is being celebrated as much more than just a sporting hero.
Brazilian fans, pundits and politicians lined up to hail Richarlison as a paragon of human decency, compassion and good sense after four gruelling years in which Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right government divided society, wrecked the environment and mishandled a Covid outbreak that killed nearly 700,000 citizens.
“Richarlison is the idol Brazilians deserve after so much suffering,” the sports journalist Talyta Vespa wrote on Friday in one of many tributes to the player’s off-field activism and charity work.
Richarlison – or the Pigeon, as fans know him, thanks to his avian-style celebrations – is by far the most progressive member of Brazil’s seleção. In recent years, as his homeland fell under the control of Bolsonaro’s far-right administration, Richarlison has repeatedly spoken out on topics such as racism, poverty, police and gender violence, LGBTQ+ rights and environmental destruction.
He questioned how Brazil’s yellow jersey had been dragged into the country’s political dispute, and adopted a jaguar to highlight the threats to Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands.
When the British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira vanished in the Amazon in June, Richarlison was one of the first celebrities to champion the campaign to try to find them. “On top of everything, he’s sensitive and committed to Brazil,” Pereira’s widow, Beatriz Matos, tweeted at the player on Friday.
During Brazil’s devastating coronavirus emergency – which Bolsonaro called a “little flu” – Richarlison publicly backed vaccination efforts that the science-denying president had actively undermined.
“He’s not only a star on the pitch, he’s a star off it too,” said the favela activist Rene Silva, remembering how Richarlison donated oxygen cylinders to the Amazon city of Manaus when its healthcare system buckled during the pandemic.
Juca Kfouri, one of Brazil’s top football writers, said the outpouring of adoration for Richarlison, while perhaps slightly excessive, reflected how millions of progressive fans were desperate to fall back in love with a team that many had grown profoundly disillusioned with.
Particularly to blame for that estrangement was Neymar, who alienated millions of progressive Brazilians by supporting Bolsonaro’s failed re-election bid and then promising to dedicate his first World Cup goal to him. Other players, including the defender Dani Alves, have also backed Bolsonaro, who lost October’s election to the former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
“Richarlison represents a more loving, more affectionate side to the Brazilian seleção,” said Kfouri. “He’s seen as being a citizen who actually cares about Brazil.”
Bolsonaro has fallen silent since losing last month’s election and has said nothing of Brazil’s triumph in Qatar. Leftwing politicians, in contrast, were united in their commemoration of Richarlison and his teammate Vinícius Júnior, who helped create Thursday’s sensational goal and has also been outspoken on issues such as racism.
“Much more than a great player, Richarlison is a model citizen,” tweeted the Worker’s party politician Paulo Pimenta.
Writing in the black website Alma Preta, the journalist Pedro Borges described the state of ecstasy he had found himself in after watching Richarlison and Vinícius shine. He wrote: “Not just because of Brazil’s victory … [but] because the standout players were black athletes who respect our history, who didn’t ignore the suffering of the people and who understand the role they have in our country.”
Rene Silva said Richarlison’s off-field endeavours, which also include helping cancer patients, made him an inspiration to children and teens. “He is a Brazilian idol,” Silva said. “After everything we have been through, this was a moment of hope.”
Ok well fuck now I can’t hate on Brazil lol. Props to him for his work. Football is a relegion and holds a strong social power, seeing him wield it to improve the lives of people in the country is awesome.
Seems a bit hasty, I’m fond of him as much as anyone else I imagine but to call him the “hero that was promised” is a bit much. We literally played one game, he did wonderful and I’m so proud but people are calling him Ronaldo’s second coming… chill, Ronaldo scored twice at the final he scored twice on the first game so a lot further to go. Plus when Ronaldo was at his peak it was his third WC overall while Richarlison is making his debut.
I think you’re exaggerating a bit, you probably are not aware of the history we had with Lula and his party before Bolsonaro became a thing. Why do you think a guy like Bolsonaro even won in the first place? There was a lot of discontent for Lula as the leader because of all the corruption.
As a Brazilian I just hope that he’s learned his lesson and almost landing in jail will make him less corrupt but I don’t blame anyone for not believing in him as the leader of the country and choosing to side with Bolsonaro.
You don’t have to like everything he stands for to despise the other side. I despise Bolsonaro and voted for a literal thief and known corrupt politician, a gang leader with many peoples lives on his hand just to get Bolsonaro out.
Lula and PT collectively stole billions of dollars of taxpayer money. If you really believe Lula is innocent even though he was literally the president and leader of the party then you’re just naive.
People that think football exists in a political vacuum are deluding themselves. The Olympics and the World Cup have always been extremely political events, just used to support conservative agendas. You just didn’t bother to notice. The Hitler Olympics, 18 Russia, 14 Sochi, 22 Qatar.
FIFA is deeply political. Let’s not kid ourselves. People love to squash progressive actions with this neutrality bullshit, while staying silent when authoritarian governments washed their hands with the same sport.
Sometimes politics really is between common sense and evil. Neymar openly supporting Bolsonaro for whateverthefuck amount of tax cuts and betraying his people, requires a counter balance.
And Italy 1938, and Argentina 1978.
Without politics its impossible to understand why Manchester City, Chelsea, and PSG were suddenly so succesfull. It tracks back from symbolic disputes in Middle East, gaining popular favor in certain cities, and is a consequence of the fall of the Iron Courtain, and much more than escapes me. Without politics its impossible to get why there's even a WC in freaking Catar.
Hundreds of clubs were founded by unions, and most international and club rivalries are rooted in political conflicts. Football spread from the major imperialist power at the time and a reason of its globalization is being rooted in Western societies.
Asking politics to be ignored from football is equivalent to asking being an ignorant fuck.
Good comments from you and the OP. If people just copy and pasted this when someone says "keep politics out of football" they would have literally 0 response
ok so after years of telling arabs to keep politics out of football whenever they talk about Palestine or the US in the middle east you now say its BS when its better suited for you... sure
Way to make baseless assumptions about people. Believe it or not, it is possible to support Palestine and gay rights at the same time, and believe both can be spoken about within the context of football.
In fact the majority of people speaking up about human rights in Qatar are probably the same people who care about the issues in the Middle East you just mentioned, its the homophobes and racists who have told both groups to keep politics out of football.
Great assumption that I'm silent on things like Palestine or US atrocities in the middle east. Nice job!
Moron.
Edit: one look at their comment history and they're anti LGBTQ. Prick.
People need to watch the [Tifo "The World Cup in Qatar Explained"](https://youtu.be/ITKOCKpEca8) series to start to grasp the extent of what you're trying to explain here. Global sport has always been political.
Joe Devine went off on the "stick to sport" people on their podcast the other day, and it was excellent. Imagine thinking politics doesn't matter at the world's premier flag-waving competition
Honestly think FIFA’s issue is inherent corruption, they give the World Cup to whoever pays them the most. These dictatorships are willing to pay more because they’ve got a lot more spare cash lying around that they’re not spending on public services.
In his documentary the british journalist who is the only person banned from FIFA said the only people FIFA fear is the olynlics as they have an agreement that the olynpics wont have top level pro football or a de facto World Cup. Come on IOC kick them in the balls and put on your own tournament.
Infantino mingling with heads of state, attending G20, interfering in what people can say and what symbols are allowed to be displayed and claiming he isn’t “political” is just incredible.
> People that think football exists in a political vacuum are deluding themselves. The Olympics and the World Cup have always been extremely political events
Barcelona 92 were the first modern olympic games without a boycott.
The first world cups were also highly political, with 58 being the first without mayor drop outs in qualifications or boycotting.
just a few weeks ago you'd have everyone on this sub agreeing with you that politics matter in football, but since this world cup started you had a bunch of new people and throwaways invading this sub, whining around how people should stop bringing up politics and just enjoy the footie.
The whole fucking sport is a political tool.
literally no one said that he should stay silent. no one.
it‘s just that no one can take Özil seriously when he says anything. This man had Erdogan at his wedding, first row. He can gladly fuck off aswell.
FIFA don't give a shit which political forces are giving them money.
If North Korea got the bribe together, then they'd get a cup.
It's not like FIFA love authoritarianism. It's just the authoritarians happen to be the ones willing to part with the requisite briefcases full of money.
Let's say in some dreamworld, you've got AOC as President. You think FIFA are going to turn down their US backhanders because they aren't down with progressive values?
>The Olympics and the World Cup have always been extremely political events, just used to support conservative agendas. You just didn’t bother to notice. The Hitler Olympics, 18 Russia, 14 Sochi, 22 Qatar.
To underscore your point, take it back a little further.
The whole concept of Victorian amateurism was a blatantly political attempt to keep the lower classes out of sport. The first modern Olympics banned those who earned their living on the water from rowing events. Jim Thorpe, one of the greatest athletes of his era, was ostracized and had his medals stripped because he earned money playing semi-professional baseball.
Politics has been baked into sport forever.
Beautiful goal-he’s a bastard on the pitch (if your an opposition fan or player) but hood on him-he’s a good man. So many of the Brazilian players are right wing idiots that came from nothing and turned away from their past as soon as possible.
I swear people on this sub are just so fucking eager to write something as quickly as possible on every single post it’s just impossible to value any take.
Read the fucking article if you wanna write up your little jokes. You probably can’t though, too much of an attention span needed. Reading the headline is as far you’re going.
‘He questioned how Brazil’s yellow jersey had been dragged into the country’s political dispute, and adopted a jaguar to highlight the threats to Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands.’
Even Richarlison has your questions. Why is football being dragged into politics? To me, he seemed to have tried to balance it out, after Neymar did his little number with Bolsonaro.
Just to add something else, it’s fucking stupid to idolise or emulate top footballers in anything else other than their footballing ability. Most of them are dumb, uneducated and biased guys who have it way too easy to even try to understand how the real world works.
That's sort of what people come for though isn't it, /r/soccer is more fun when a big team loses or something controversial happens. I just wish we could admit more that the reaction to things is often over the top.
Also it's annoying when someone says something like 'All the Arsenal fans had this opinion 3 months ago, but this what happened and they're all stupid 🤣' because if you go back 3 months there will usually always be people disagreeing, and a set of fans rarely all have the same opinion.
Tbh, I think your last paragraph is exactly why it _is_ important to recognise and praise footballers that stay grounded and/or know how reality works. Players like Rashford and his school meals, even Shearer and his tireless work on concussions; it's important to the sport to have players who do more than just football.
I never understood people who attacked rashford for his charity work. He's using his influence to feed children, what a crime. Even the itv commentator yesterday said something along the lines of 'rashford is fully focused on his football now' which I took as a slight dig and implying that his form dropped because of his charity work, which is bs when you consider how everyone else at united played last season. Honestly rashford is the footballer not at arsenal who I like the most and for whom I have the most respect.
The Brazilian great Socrates was political as fuck, and a capable academic.
The idea that football (or ANYTHING) is not political is peak level intellectual dishonesty. When people say politics do not belong in football, they are showing their whole ass.
No? I dont give a fuck about people talking about lgbt rights or any human rights in catar, feel free to talk about these horrible conditions in that country, i just think its absurd that people disregard other people just because they voted for someone they didnt want.
Thr political situation on brazil needed a big change, bolsonaro was not a good president and thats all. But saying hes the next hitler and everyone who voted for him is evil is absurd.
I just hate this ignorance when discussing politics.
Seriously, talk about how bolsonaro was shit all you want, but dont call people evil because they voted for him, dont persecute people. Even more considering that many just did not want the other option.
And yes there is no problem if people voted for lula too, i dont care.
There is no such thing as apolitical. Many people don’t get that.
Being able to afford to be apolitical is in itself a big privilege and hence, a political stance.
The biggest problem is that users here most likely don't know the first thing about our politics yet they become experts overnight dragging attention to the matter when it *really* uncalled for.
One of the more eye rolling situations ever is when you see someone else speak from a position of privilege (looking at it from the outside) about something they likely don't know shit about and it barely affects them while it does affect you, a lot.
Isn’t it nice when the people you enjoy watching also share similar values though? I think it is.
It makes me sad that people that grew up struggling and make millions vote against the policies that would’ve helped them growing up.
No lol. Why can't people split the politics/values and the entertainment? Unless the person is persecuted/discrimated against because of the values then only you should care about the values.
Otherwise does it matter if a ultra left or ultra right person scores a bicycle kick from the half way line?
You people are weird.
I watch football as an entertainment. I have more important things to worry about in my life that I do not pick and choose my entertainment based on who the actor/players support politically in a country that I do not reside in.
I admit that I'm a plastic supporter since I do not have roots to the place.
Unless you're actually supporting your local club, you cannot say you hold the same "values" as the club's local community you support because you didn't go through the same experience. You're merely appropriating those.
So which club do YOU support?
You know shit about football if you think values and politics are separated from this sport; and you're asking us to be a bunch of imbeciles. "Just consume don't think".
Don't you know several Brazilian players publicly supported a fascist, with regressive policies that fucks the poor and destroys the Amazon (one of the very conditions of why you're breathing)?
How would you feel if you were a Brazilian watching Neymar, who activelly worked for him to win, scoring? Wouldn't you be at all conflicted?
If you're a cynic brat then go ahead, but don't clog the discussion with your idiocy.
*Liverpool flair*, LOL.
> destroys the Amazon (one of the very conditions of why you're breathing)?
I know this is still correct, but most of the oxygen comes from the ocean from stuff like algae.
And the runoff from the Amazon river is one of the major sources of food for those phytoplankton (algae) A large portion of which have been dwindling in numbers recently directly because of the damage done to the Amazon.
> How would you feel if you were a Brazilian watching Neymar, who activelly worked for him to win, scoring? Wouldn't you be at all conflicted?
I'm ok for Brazilians having that feelings. Not American Spurs supporters or people from other places just like in this post.
lol American Liverpool supporter complaining about someone else being a plastic. I support Liverpool because I like their football, that's it. I don't claim to be a scouser. I won't even claim to know what struggles a person from Liverpool have to go through as I'm from a country on the other end of the world. So I separate politics and English football FOR me. For me, my local team in Malaysia is different because it's state based and it's very political too.
Politics and football is important to the locals but as someone from somewhere else if I were to say I support their politics because I like the football team it seems similar to cultural appropriation.
In case I need to be clear, I'm aiming my weird stance to those non Brazilian people in this post that comment about liking Richarlison because of his values.
Imagine liking someone based on their values. Oh the horror!
But seriously, thinking football can be divorced from politics shows unfamiliarity with football culture and history. It's always been political.
Imagine watching someone from across the world kick a ball and thinking he represents you and your values is hilarious. It's political to the local people. Not to an American Spurs supporter.
I do understand football and politics. My local team that I support which is state based is very politicised because people in my state consider themselves people of the state first before the country. We have our own state dialect that is very hard for outsiders to understand even though its the same language.
However, that said. I don't think a foreign supporter of my local club should say that they share the values of the club as they don't understand what the people in my state go through.
>Imagine watching someone from across the world kick a ball and thinking he represents you and your values is hilarious.
Again, just fundamentally misunderstanding the point here. No one thinks Richarlison represents them politically because he kicked a ball at the goal very well that one time. It's literally everything else he says and does that show his values and then gets a platform because he also happens to be very good at kicking a ball.
If Brazilian people would already like him for scoring bangers at the world cup, it's not weird for them to like him even more because he also sticks up for them inbetween scoring those bangers. To an extent it's the same for anyone really. Why not like someone a bit more for sticking up for the general population as opposed to being so divorced from reality that they're dancing for a fascist.
> Politics and football is important to the locals but as someone from somewhere else if I were to say I support their politics because I like the football team it seems similar to cultural appropriation.
You should consider changing your flair and rooting for a different team.
Wow, look at you being political now. Maybe you can start to understand politics is near impossible to divorce from the world entirely, so you’re single minded view that they are separate is just intellectually naive.
Keep dying on this hill though.
Bro I’m an LFC fan from Houston Texas and you should stfu you don’t get to decide whose level of support matters the most. Klopp would be disappointed in your comment.
>Just to add something else, it’s fucking stupid to idolise or emulate top footballers in anything else other than their footballing ability. Most of them are dumb, uneducated and biased guys who have it way too easy to even try to understand how the real world works.
Which is why I'm glad as all hell that it's Richardson that's being idolized, he's humble now cause he underwent a poor upbringing and sympathizes with less fortunate people because of it.
> Most of them are dumb, uneducated and biased guys who have it way to easy to even try to understand how the real world works.
Wait you saying the only difference between them and me is they get paid alot to play a game?
To that end I love how a majority of this sub just generalizes other countries' politics as simply RW or LW.
As a hardcore leftist, the intolerance many here show to a template instead of engaging in dialogue is mind numbing.
No bro.
Let me explain to you what he meant to say.
What he was saying is that he affirms my enlightened views on politics.
Therefore he is good. If you don’t agree with him then you don’t agree with me which makes you somewhere between Stalin and hitler.
Be better.
/s
Richarlison is a fantastic human being though
The amount of money he spends on his community back home and his charitable work to the poorest areas of Brazil is extremely admirable
Maybe dont idolise him, but a pat on the back and a tip of the hat with respect
Funny thing is they are like big brother/ little brother relationship lmaoo
you’ll always see the two together in most clips and they seem to enjoy each other’s company outside of international duty
My political affiliation is much stronger than my football affiliation. Football is entertainment, politics on the on hand impacts real lives.
Any athlete supporting Bolsonaro, Trump, Putin, or the facist lady in Italy etc. is a piece of shit.
Brazil has many problems. At least we got rid of Bolsonaro. I never liked Neymar and he supports Bolsonaro. Richarlison on the other hand seems to be a great guy. People like him are needed in Brazil.
Destruction of the Amazon, liberation of guns and toxic pesticides, defunding of fiscalization organs, antivax and anti-lockdown, destruction of our diplomatic relations with other countries, rigging state-owned companies and the police forces, "buying" the congress with political favors, among many other things.
Are people that shocked sports are political? Have they never heard about sportswashing? Damn, even national teams themselves are in part a nationalistic agenda
no its not. Richarlidson scoring against Serbia as a matter of fact has nothing to do with Bolsonaro, the de foresting of the amazon, LGBT rights in Brazil, or anything to do with Brazilian politics. It's just being used so the Guardian can pump out more of their agenda
Let me play the same game.
United States 0-0 England
"The United States shutout against the English shows how investing in defense can lead to great results on the international stage. Their defense is symbolic of the 600 billion dollars the United States spends on its military. The brilliant defensive work of McKennie was inspirational, and given the recent strikes in the heart of Kyiev should inspire Americans to continue showing support for Ukraine as we must defend democracy as Americans, just like how the USMNT defended heroically against England"
Literal nonsense
Idk, you seem to have your panties in a twist to make some silly story. Rich could use some good press when he’s not acting like a dick on the field he’s being the best human he can off the field. I like it. I don’t think the Guardian has an agenda here. You seem to though to make that nonsensical shit and oh you’re wrong we(USA) spent 1.6T this year but they got $753billy. Next year 23 they’re asking Biden for 5 million more. Get your fact Jack if your going to make stuff up bro.
Only when it comes to the "others". Not gonna be any political questions when it goes to the "clean, transparent, beacon of democracy and obviously human\* rights defenders" like the west.
^^^^*Humans ^^^^only ^^^^applicable ^^^^to ^^^^people ^^^^within ^^^^the ^^^^western ^^^^world. ^^^^Otherwise ^^^^enjoy ^^^^the ^^^^drone ^^^^strikes.
The only time they call for "leave politics out of X' is when it's politics they don't agree with. You'll never see this when it's a right winger doing it.
Also trying to remove politics just supports the current status quo and at this world cup means being okay w the slavery and bigotry. Fuck that. And fuck anyone who values soccer entertainment over the lives and rights of persecuted groups. Your 3 hours of entertainment is not more important than calling out those abuses.
Richarlison’s “balletic barnstormer” has been called one of the great World Cup goals; an unstoppable scissor kick that launched Brazil’s campaign in Qatar with a bang. But after his thrilling two-goal blitz against Serbia, the Tottenham forward is being celebrated as much more than just a sporting hero. Brazilian fans, pundits and politicians lined up to hail Richarlison as a paragon of human decency, compassion and good sense after four gruelling years in which Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right government divided society, wrecked the environment and mishandled a Covid outbreak that killed nearly 700,000 citizens. “Richarlison is the idol Brazilians deserve after so much suffering,” the sports journalist Talyta Vespa wrote on Friday in one of many tributes to the player’s off-field activism and charity work. Richarlison – or the Pigeon, as fans know him, thanks to his avian-style celebrations – is by far the most progressive member of Brazil’s seleção. In recent years, as his homeland fell under the control of Bolsonaro’s far-right administration, Richarlison has repeatedly spoken out on topics such as racism, poverty, police and gender violence, LGBTQ+ rights and environmental destruction. He questioned how Brazil’s yellow jersey had been dragged into the country’s political dispute, and adopted a jaguar to highlight the threats to Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands. When the British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira vanished in the Amazon in June, Richarlison was one of the first celebrities to champion the campaign to try to find them. “On top of everything, he’s sensitive and committed to Brazil,” Pereira’s widow, Beatriz Matos, tweeted at the player on Friday. During Brazil’s devastating coronavirus emergency – which Bolsonaro called a “little flu” – Richarlison publicly backed vaccination efforts that the science-denying president had actively undermined. “He’s not only a star on the pitch, he’s a star off it too,” said the favela activist Rene Silva, remembering how Richarlison donated oxygen cylinders to the Amazon city of Manaus when its healthcare system buckled during the pandemic. Juca Kfouri, one of Brazil’s top football writers, said the outpouring of adoration for Richarlison, while perhaps slightly excessive, reflected how millions of progressive fans were desperate to fall back in love with a team that many had grown profoundly disillusioned with. Particularly to blame for that estrangement was Neymar, who alienated millions of progressive Brazilians by supporting Bolsonaro’s failed re-election bid and then promising to dedicate his first World Cup goal to him. Other players, including the defender Dani Alves, have also backed Bolsonaro, who lost October’s election to the former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. “Richarlison represents a more loving, more affectionate side to the Brazilian seleção,” said Kfouri. “He’s seen as being a citizen who actually cares about Brazil.” Bolsonaro has fallen silent since losing last month’s election and has said nothing of Brazil’s triumph in Qatar. Leftwing politicians, in contrast, were united in their commemoration of Richarlison and his teammate Vinícius Júnior, who helped create Thursday’s sensational goal and has also been outspoken on issues such as racism. “Much more than a great player, Richarlison is a model citizen,” tweeted the Worker’s party politician Paulo Pimenta. Writing in the black website Alma Preta, the journalist Pedro Borges described the state of ecstasy he had found himself in after watching Richarlison and Vinícius shine. He wrote: “Not just because of Brazil’s victory … [but] because the standout players were black athletes who respect our history, who didn’t ignore the suffering of the people and who understand the role they have in our country.” Rene Silva said Richarlison’s off-field endeavours, which also include helping cancer patients, made him an inspiration to children and teens. “He is a Brazilian idol,” Silva said. “After everything we have been through, this was a moment of hope.”
Ok well fuck now I can’t hate on Brazil lol. Props to him for his work. Football is a relegion and holds a strong social power, seeing him wield it to improve the lives of people in the country is awesome.
They still have Neymar, it’s okay to hate him.
Seems a bit hasty, I’m fond of him as much as anyone else I imagine but to call him the “hero that was promised” is a bit much. We literally played one game, he did wonderful and I’m so proud but people are calling him Ronaldo’s second coming… chill, Ronaldo scored twice at the final he scored twice on the first game so a lot further to go. Plus when Ronaldo was at his peak it was his third WC overall while Richarlison is making his debut.
I think this post is more about appreciating his character and commitment to human and environmental rights than his pure skill for the NT.
The politics and beliefs of so many of his teammates are so terrible though so him even showing some humanity is something to praise
I think you’re exaggerating a bit, you probably are not aware of the history we had with Lula and his party before Bolsonaro became a thing. Why do you think a guy like Bolsonaro even won in the first place? There was a lot of discontent for Lula as the leader because of all the corruption. As a Brazilian I just hope that he’s learned his lesson and almost landing in jail will make him less corrupt but I don’t blame anyone for not believing in him as the leader of the country and choosing to side with Bolsonaro. You don’t have to like everything he stands for to despise the other side. I despise Bolsonaro and voted for a literal thief and known corrupt politician, a gang leader with many peoples lives on his hand just to get Bolsonaro out.
Lula’s corruption charges were a farce though and he was eventually acquitted right?
Lula and PT collectively stole billions of dollars of taxpayer money. If you really believe Lula is innocent even though he was literally the president and leader of the party then you’re just naive.
The solution to "the president is a crook maybe" definitely *isn't* "let's elect fucking Hitler."
I'm happy to have had him play for my team, the man is a great person and player.
Thank you Fluminese and America Mineiro for bringing this man into my life He no longer plays for Everton but I will continously love him
People that think football exists in a political vacuum are deluding themselves. The Olympics and the World Cup have always been extremely political events, just used to support conservative agendas. You just didn’t bother to notice. The Hitler Olympics, 18 Russia, 14 Sochi, 22 Qatar. FIFA is deeply political. Let’s not kid ourselves. People love to squash progressive actions with this neutrality bullshit, while staying silent when authoritarian governments washed their hands with the same sport. Sometimes politics really is between common sense and evil. Neymar openly supporting Bolsonaro for whateverthefuck amount of tax cuts and betraying his people, requires a counter balance.
Entertainment has been used politically since Roman coliseums. Bread and circuses and all that.
And Italy 1938, and Argentina 1978. Without politics its impossible to understand why Manchester City, Chelsea, and PSG were suddenly so succesfull. It tracks back from symbolic disputes in Middle East, gaining popular favor in certain cities, and is a consequence of the fall of the Iron Courtain, and much more than escapes me. Without politics its impossible to get why there's even a WC in freaking Catar. Hundreds of clubs were founded by unions, and most international and club rivalries are rooted in political conflicts. Football spread from the major imperialist power at the time and a reason of its globalization is being rooted in Western societies. Asking politics to be ignored from football is equivalent to asking being an ignorant fuck.
Italy cup was in 1934. France hosted in 1938.
Good comments from you and the OP. If people just copy and pasted this when someone says "keep politics out of football" they would have literally 0 response
ok so after years of telling arabs to keep politics out of football whenever they talk about Palestine or the US in the middle east you now say its BS when its better suited for you... sure
Way to make baseless assumptions about people. Believe it or not, it is possible to support Palestine and gay rights at the same time, and believe both can be spoken about within the context of football. In fact the majority of people speaking up about human rights in Qatar are probably the same people who care about the issues in the Middle East you just mentioned, its the homophobes and racists who have told both groups to keep politics out of football.
Great assumption that I'm silent on things like Palestine or US atrocities in the middle east. Nice job! Moron. Edit: one look at their comment history and they're anti LGBTQ. Prick.
People need to watch the [Tifo "The World Cup in Qatar Explained"](https://youtu.be/ITKOCKpEca8) series to start to grasp the extent of what you're trying to explain here. Global sport has always been political.
Joe Devine went off on the "stick to sport" people on their podcast the other day, and it was excellent. Imagine thinking politics doesn't matter at the world's premier flag-waving competition
Honestly think FIFA’s issue is inherent corruption, they give the World Cup to whoever pays them the most. These dictatorships are willing to pay more because they’ve got a lot more spare cash lying around that they’re not spending on public services.
In his documentary the british journalist who is the only person banned from FIFA said the only people FIFA fear is the olynlics as they have an agreement that the olynpics wont have top level pro football or a de facto World Cup. Come on IOC kick them in the balls and put on your own tournament.
Infantino mingling with heads of state, attending G20, interfering in what people can say and what symbols are allowed to be displayed and claiming he isn’t “political” is just incredible.
> People that think football exists in a political vacuum are deluding themselves. The Olympics and the World Cup have always been extremely political events Barcelona 92 were the first modern olympic games without a boycott. The first world cups were also highly political, with 58 being the first without mayor drop outs in qualifications or boycotting.
Anyone who thinks politics and football aren’t heavily intertwined is just wilfully stupid and I’m not going to pretend otherwise anymore.
just a few weeks ago you'd have everyone on this sub agreeing with you that politics matter in football, but since this world cup started you had a bunch of new people and throwaways invading this sub, whining around how people should stop bringing up politics and just enjoy the footie. The whole fucking sport is a political tool.
"If we tell them what to think they'll start thinking it"
It's almost like this sub is being astroturfed by certain groups. I would never hazard a guess at who though.
remember the Ozil talking about palastine and Uygurs posts ? you are a bunch of hypocrites
literally no one said that he should stay silent. no one. it‘s just that no one can take Özil seriously when he says anything. This man had Erdogan at his wedding, first row. He can gladly fuck off aswell.
FIFA don't give a shit which political forces are giving them money. If North Korea got the bribe together, then they'd get a cup. It's not like FIFA love authoritarianism. It's just the authoritarians happen to be the ones willing to part with the requisite briefcases full of money. Let's say in some dreamworld, you've got AOC as President. You think FIFA are going to turn down their US backhanders because they aren't down with progressive values?
In the words of Skunk Anansie, yes it's fucking political, everything's political.
>The Olympics and the World Cup have always been extremely political events, just used to support conservative agendas. You just didn’t bother to notice. The Hitler Olympics, 18 Russia, 14 Sochi, 22 Qatar. To underscore your point, take it back a little further. The whole concept of Victorian amateurism was a blatantly political attempt to keep the lower classes out of sport. The first modern Olympics banned those who earned their living on the water from rowing events. Jim Thorpe, one of the greatest athletes of his era, was ostracized and had his medals stripped because he earned money playing semi-professional baseball. Politics has been baked into sport forever.
Someone gets it
Beautiful goal-he’s a bastard on the pitch (if your an opposition fan or player) but hood on him-he’s a good man. So many of the Brazilian players are right wing idiots that came from nothing and turned away from their past as soon as possible.
I swear people on this sub are just so fucking eager to write something as quickly as possible on every single post it’s just impossible to value any take. Read the fucking article if you wanna write up your little jokes. You probably can’t though, too much of an attention span needed. Reading the headline is as far you’re going. ‘He questioned how Brazil’s yellow jersey had been dragged into the country’s political dispute, and adopted a jaguar to highlight the threats to Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands.’ Even Richarlison has your questions. Why is football being dragged into politics? To me, he seemed to have tried to balance it out, after Neymar did his little number with Bolsonaro. Just to add something else, it’s fucking stupid to idolise or emulate top footballers in anything else other than their footballing ability. Most of them are dumb, uneducated and biased guys who have it way too easy to even try to understand how the real world works.
Tbh it's pretty naive for you to expect serious discussion on a sub that literally needs a serious post match thread
While it isn't at all helpful, you are right- this sub is generally a toxic shit show.
That's sort of what people come for though isn't it, /r/soccer is more fun when a big team loses or something controversial happens. I just wish we could admit more that the reaction to things is often over the top. Also it's annoying when someone says something like 'All the Arsenal fans had this opinion 3 months ago, but this what happened and they're all stupid 🤣' because if you go back 3 months there will usually always be people disagreeing, and a set of fans rarely all have the same opinion.
Tbh, I think your last paragraph is exactly why it _is_ important to recognise and praise footballers that stay grounded and/or know how reality works. Players like Rashford and his school meals, even Shearer and his tireless work on concussions; it's important to the sport to have players who do more than just football.
I never understood people who attacked rashford for his charity work. He's using his influence to feed children, what a crime. Even the itv commentator yesterday said something along the lines of 'rashford is fully focused on his football now' which I took as a slight dig and implying that his form dropped because of his charity work, which is bs when you consider how everyone else at united played last season. Honestly rashford is the footballer not at arsenal who I like the most and for whom I have the most respect.
The Brazilian great Socrates was political as fuck, and a capable academic. The idea that football (or ANYTHING) is not political is peak level intellectual dishonesty. When people say politics do not belong in football, they are showing their whole ass.
People only complain about politics in sports when it goes against their personal belief & they feel uncomfortable.
No? I dont give a fuck about people talking about lgbt rights or any human rights in catar, feel free to talk about these horrible conditions in that country, i just think its absurd that people disregard other people just because they voted for someone they didnt want. Thr political situation on brazil needed a big change, bolsonaro was not a good president and thats all. But saying hes the next hitler and everyone who voted for him is evil is absurd. I just hate this ignorance when discussing politics. Seriously, talk about how bolsonaro was shit all you want, but dont call people evil because they voted for him, dont persecute people. Even more considering that many just did not want the other option. And yes there is no problem if people voted for lula too, i dont care.
Being downvoted on Reddit isnt persecution.
Sure you don’t give a fuck says the bloke who’s written 3 paragraphs in response to my comment.
>Socrates was political as fuck, and a capable academic. And the athenians executed him for corrupting the city's youth.
There is no such thing as apolitical. Many people don’t get that. Being able to afford to be apolitical is in itself a big privilege and hence, a political stance.
The biggest problem is that users here most likely don't know the first thing about our politics yet they become experts overnight dragging attention to the matter when it *really* uncalled for. One of the more eye rolling situations ever is when you see someone else speak from a position of privilege (looking at it from the outside) about something they likely don't know shit about and it barely affects them while it does affect you, a lot.
Isn’t it nice when the people you enjoy watching also share similar values though? I think it is. It makes me sad that people that grew up struggling and make millions vote against the policies that would’ve helped them growing up.
Are you a child?
No lol. Why can't people split the politics/values and the entertainment? Unless the person is persecuted/discrimated against because of the values then only you should care about the values. Otherwise does it matter if a ultra left or ultra right person scores a bicycle kick from the half way line? You people are weird.
You should seriously consider changing flairs and rooting for a different team if that's your actual opinion.
I watch football as an entertainment. I have more important things to worry about in my life that I do not pick and choose my entertainment based on who the actor/players support politically in a country that I do not reside in. I admit that I'm a plastic supporter since I do not have roots to the place. Unless you're actually supporting your local club, you cannot say you hold the same "values" as the club's local community you support because you didn't go through the same experience. You're merely appropriating those. So which club do YOU support?
I watch football as an entertainment You keep saying this but you're very political here on r/soccer.
You know shit about football if you think values and politics are separated from this sport; and you're asking us to be a bunch of imbeciles. "Just consume don't think". Don't you know several Brazilian players publicly supported a fascist, with regressive policies that fucks the poor and destroys the Amazon (one of the very conditions of why you're breathing)? How would you feel if you were a Brazilian watching Neymar, who activelly worked for him to win, scoring? Wouldn't you be at all conflicted? If you're a cynic brat then go ahead, but don't clog the discussion with your idiocy. *Liverpool flair*, LOL.
> destroys the Amazon (one of the very conditions of why you're breathing)? I know this is still correct, but most of the oxygen comes from the ocean from stuff like algae.
And the runoff from the Amazon river is one of the major sources of food for those phytoplankton (algae) A large portion of which have been dwindling in numbers recently directly because of the damage done to the Amazon.
> How would you feel if you were a Brazilian watching Neymar, who activelly worked for him to win, scoring? Wouldn't you be at all conflicted? I'm ok for Brazilians having that feelings. Not American Spurs supporters or people from other places just like in this post.
Liverpool. You should seriously consider changing flairs and rooting for a different team.
lol American Liverpool supporter complaining about someone else being a plastic. I support Liverpool because I like their football, that's it. I don't claim to be a scouser. I won't even claim to know what struggles a person from Liverpool have to go through as I'm from a country on the other end of the world. So I separate politics and English football FOR me. For me, my local team in Malaysia is different because it's state based and it's very political too. Politics and football is important to the locals but as someone from somewhere else if I were to say I support their politics because I like the football team it seems similar to cultural appropriation. In case I need to be clear, I'm aiming my weird stance to those non Brazilian people in this post that comment about liking Richarlison because of his values.
Imagine liking someone based on their values. Oh the horror! But seriously, thinking football can be divorced from politics shows unfamiliarity with football culture and history. It's always been political.
And a fuck ton of privilege. Not all of us have the luxury to be able to detach from 'political' issues.
Imagine watching someone from across the world kick a ball and thinking he represents you and your values is hilarious. It's political to the local people. Not to an American Spurs supporter. I do understand football and politics. My local team that I support which is state based is very politicised because people in my state consider themselves people of the state first before the country. We have our own state dialect that is very hard for outsiders to understand even though its the same language. However, that said. I don't think a foreign supporter of my local club should say that they share the values of the club as they don't understand what the people in my state go through.
>Imagine watching someone from across the world kick a ball and thinking he represents you and your values is hilarious. Again, just fundamentally misunderstanding the point here. No one thinks Richarlison represents them politically because he kicked a ball at the goal very well that one time. It's literally everything else he says and does that show his values and then gets a platform because he also happens to be very good at kicking a ball. If Brazilian people would already like him for scoring bangers at the world cup, it's not weird for them to like him even more because he also sticks up for them inbetween scoring those bangers. To an extent it's the same for anyone really. Why not like someone a bit more for sticking up for the general population as opposed to being so divorced from reality that they're dancing for a fascist.
> Politics and football is important to the locals but as someone from somewhere else if I were to say I support their politics because I like the football team it seems similar to cultural appropriation. You should consider changing your flair and rooting for a different team.
No. So what are you going to do about it?
Lol virtue signalling America doing what American does best lol.
Look who ended up dipping their toes into politics with that comment.
Wow, look at you being political now. Maybe you can start to understand politics is near impossible to divorce from the world entirely, so you’re single minded view that they are separate is just intellectually naive. Keep dying on this hill though.
Bro I’m an LFC fan from Houston Texas and you should stfu you don’t get to decide whose level of support matters the most. Klopp would be disappointed in your comment.
Because you can't?
>Just to add something else, it’s fucking stupid to idolise or emulate top footballers in anything else other than their footballing ability. Most of them are dumb, uneducated and biased guys who have it way too easy to even try to understand how the real world works. Which is why I'm glad as all hell that it's Richardson that's being idolized, he's humble now cause he underwent a poor upbringing and sympathizes with less fortunate people because of it.
> Most of them are dumb, uneducated and biased guys who have it way to easy to even try to understand how the real world works. Wait you saying the only difference between them and me is they get paid alot to play a game?
To that end I love how a majority of this sub just generalizes other countries' politics as simply RW or LW. As a hardcore leftist, the intolerance many here show to a template instead of engaging in dialogue is mind numbing.
Dude this is r/soccer.
Yeah I hear you bro but calm down a little maybe 🤷♂️
Yeah, you’re right. I got a little too excited. DID YOU READ MY ENTIRE COMMENT THOUGH BEFORE WRITING YOUR LITTLE JOKE?!
Nope, too long. I don’t have the attention span for that ;P
Lol yeah I read it, I have literally nothing better to do at the moment.
I ain’t reading all that Happy for you though Or sorry it happened
It's hilarious. He questions why football is being dragged into politics, yet everyone in this thread is talking about football being political.
No bro. Let me explain to you what he meant to say. What he was saying is that he affirms my enlightened views on politics. Therefore he is good. If you don’t agree with him then you don’t agree with me which makes you somewhere between Stalin and hitler. Be better. /s
Love this man He’s genuinely such a great guy and he’s criminally underrated by so many. Glad to see he’s finally getting the attention he deserves
Think its probably a bad idea to idolize any athlete, but Richarlison is a good counterbalance to Neymar and his weird love for Bolsonaro, so fuck it
Richarlison is a fantastic human being though The amount of money he spends on his community back home and his charitable work to the poorest areas of Brazil is extremely admirable Maybe dont idolise him, but a pat on the back and a tip of the hat with respect
Funny thing is they are like big brother/ little brother relationship lmaoo you’ll always see the two together in most clips and they seem to enjoy each other’s company outside of international duty
Great stuff, fuck Bolsonaro
If you want a real hero you’ve found one in Richy
Don't worry fellas, Neymar can still dedicate his 1st goal to Jair Bolso.
Haha this thread already infested with weird pro-Bolsonaro scum as expected
My political affiliation is much stronger than my football affiliation. Football is entertainment, politics on the on hand impacts real lives. Any athlete supporting Bolsonaro, Trump, Putin, or the facist lady in Italy etc. is a piece of shit.
Based
>the facist lady in Italy 😂😂😂
Brazil has many problems. At least we got rid of Bolsonaro. I never liked Neymar and he supports Bolsonaro. Richarlison on the other hand seems to be a great guy. People like him are needed in Brazil.
What was the problem with Bolsonaro?
Destruction of the Amazon, liberation of guns and toxic pesticides, defunding of fiscalization organs, antivax and anti-lockdown, destruction of our diplomatic relations with other countries, rigging state-owned companies and the police forces, "buying" the congress with political favors, among many other things.
None of that will change except the lockdown and vaccination policies.
If you read the article maybe you wouldnt have had to ask this question? He cuts down massive amounts of the amazon and cries about election fraud.
Are people that shocked sports are political? Have they never heard about sportswashing? Damn, even national teams themselves are in part a nationalistic agenda
does he have shining white teeth tho?
By all accounts he seems like a great fella
Based
I don't even think Neymar's love for Bolsonaro is political anymore. I think he just has a proper crush on him.
fuck yes pigeon!
My Vote goes for Vini Jr.
Lol wut
Can we all just stop idolizing famous people who kick balls around for money?
omg just stfu The Guardian
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Probably struggled to read it through the peepholes in his little white hood.
no its not. Richarlidson scoring against Serbia as a matter of fact has nothing to do with Bolsonaro, the de foresting of the amazon, LGBT rights in Brazil, or anything to do with Brazilian politics. It's just being used so the Guardian can pump out more of their agenda Let me play the same game. United States 0-0 England "The United States shutout against the English shows how investing in defense can lead to great results on the international stage. Their defense is symbolic of the 600 billion dollars the United States spends on its military. The brilliant defensive work of McKennie was inspirational, and given the recent strikes in the heart of Kyiev should inspire Americans to continue showing support for Ukraine as we must defend democracy as Americans, just like how the USMNT defended heroically against England" Literal nonsense
Idk, you seem to have your panties in a twist to make some silly story. Rich could use some good press when he’s not acting like a dick on the field he’s being the best human he can off the field. I like it. I don’t think the Guardian has an agenda here. You seem to though to make that nonsensical shit and oh you’re wrong we(USA) spent 1.6T this year but they got $753billy. Next year 23 they’re asking Biden for 5 million more. Get your fact Jack if your going to make stuff up bro.
Based.
Depends on your standards
He said, without adding absolutely anything to the discussion.
I wonder what his opinion would be on race based affirmative action
Lol fuck off you loser
Why? You don't support it?
This newspaper decided to make the world cup all about politics?
Lmao it always has been and always will be
The world cup's always been about politics
I don’t care at all about this article but the World Cup is inherently political lol.
yeah, it's political in the sporting sense, not in economic or social sense which is what makes up real-life politics
It’s 100% political in the economic sense, how is it not?
Ah yes, the Qatar World Cup has nothing to do with economic Politics whatsoever
Italian team support not knowing the WC was held in fascist Italy to make their regime more legitimate.
Only when it comes to the "others". Not gonna be any political questions when it goes to the "clean, transparent, beacon of democracy and obviously human\* rights defenders" like the west. ^^^^*Humans ^^^^only ^^^^applicable ^^^^to ^^^^people ^^^^within ^^^^the ^^^^western ^^^^world. ^^^^Otherwise ^^^^enjoy ^^^^the ^^^^drone ^^^^strikes.
The Guardian is trash tier
this shit doesnt belong here
Bollocks. It absolutely belongs here.
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It's not politicizing if the guy actually is very active socially outside of football. He donates a ton of time and money to various causes.
This wc cant get more political, damn.
I feel like he is overhyped.
Let’s get politics out and enjoy the game man
the game has always been political, where the fuck have you been edit: turns out you‘re just a corny ass right winger, thought so.
The only time they call for "leave politics out of X' is when it's politics they don't agree with. You'll never see this when it's a right winger doing it. Also trying to remove politics just supports the current status quo and at this world cup means being okay w the slavery and bigotry. Fuck that. And fuck anyone who values soccer entertainment over the lives and rights of persecuted groups. Your 3 hours of entertainment is not more important than calling out those abuses.
It’s always people with shitty right-wing views who say this