From goalscorer to politician: The case of Romário and football politics in Brazil

Abstract

During his playing days, the Brazilian striker Romário was one of the most famous footballers in the world. He played for three of Brazil's top clubs in Rio de Janeiro, as well as Barcelona and PSV Eindhoven. He won the World Cup and scored over one-thousand goals throughout his career. After this successful career, Romário entered politics, first as a deputy in the city of Rio and later as a senator in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Romário's electoral success is not simply down to his footballing ability, nor the popularity of the sport in Brazil. Sports stardom, celebrity and celebrity politicians are also engaging with complex cultural processes. He has traded on his footballing stardom, but he also connects with his electorate through specific policy campaigns that resonate particularly well with his Brazilian voters. More importantly, he uses football and his footballer career as a metaphor for the wider problems facing Brazilian society. Drawing on literature from Sports Stardom, Celebrity and Celebrity Politicians, this paper charts the political career of Romário within the socio-political context of Brazil and argues that celebrity politicians still need to engage with their audiences regardless of their previous careers.

Esporte e sociedade: um olhar a partir da globalização

“…Although it is not a surprise that SMEs can leverage personal brands, the intricacies of the blurring of boundaries between sport, stardom, and politics is yet to be fully recognised within mainstream sport sociologists' discourses -with the notable exception of Doidge and Almeida (2017). Celebrity studies within sport have extensively focused on the socio-cultural and economic spheres of stardom, particularly on how sport stars can become role models and influence behaviour (see Lines, 2001;Biskup & Pfister, 1999;Martin & Bush, 2000;Melnick & Jackson, 2002), the cultural meanings those stars carry (see Chung, 2003;Pope, 2016), how athletes are used for brand endorsements within economic globalization (see Gilchrist, 2005;Marrs;Moorman, 2006;Smart, 2005;Van Heerden, Kuiper & Saar, 2008), and how athletes-celebrities are connected to discourses of nation creation (see Nalapat & Parker, 2005;Wong & Trumper, 2002).…”

“…By taking those three different authors as informing the current debate in political science on celebrity politics it is possible to envision at least two distinct approaches to the topic. On one hand there are researchers who focus on the politicisation of celebrities (see Doidge & Almeida, 2017;Inthorn & Street, 2011;Schultz, 2001;Street, 2004;Wheeler, 2013) akin to the works of Plato and Weber, while on the other hand there are researchers who focus on the celebritisation of politicians (see Loader, Vromen & Xenos, 2016;Street, 2004, Van Zoonen, 2006Wheeler, 2013) akin Machiavelli. Street (2004) (2005).…”

“…Romário de Souza Faria, or simply Romário, was born in 1960, and won the 1994 FIFA World Cup with Brazil. Romário can be said to represent in Brazil's social imaginary the rogue figure described by Da Matta (1992) as 'the malandro', the master of 'trickery' (malandragem), or as the 'trickster politic' as described in Doidge and Almeida (2017). One year after retiring from professional football, Romário was elected Federal Deputy (2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) and then elected as Senator in 2014 both representing the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) of the Rio de Janeiro state.…”