The time of a speech and a gesture, Paris found itself at the heart of the tense Brazilian presidential campaign. While he was invited, during the ceremony of the 66th Ballon d’Or, to present a prize to reward players involved in societal and charitable projects, Raí, legend of football and Paris-Saint-Germain (PSG) , took a step aside in his much noticed speech.
Especially in his country. “Brazil has an important decision to make at the end of the month regarding the future of democracy in our country and we all know which side Sócrates would be on,” he said, making the “L” for Lula ( ex-president and left-wing candidate) with his fingers. A message from the current member of Paris FC (Ligue 2) immediately relayed by many media in Brazil. And even taken up by the main recipient, Lula, who tweeted taking over the video of this moment accompanied by the message: “Thank you Raí, I was watching” (the ceremony).
A position opposed to that of Neymar who had declared his support for Jair Bolsonaro. The star striker of Paris SG had taken a position in favor of the far-right president three days before the first round of the presidential election.
The Sócrates Prize, a novelty of this 2022 edition of the Ballon d’Or, is awarded by a jury including the former figure of Brazil and Paris SG Raï, younger brother of Sócrates, representatives of France Football magazine and leaders of the organization Peace and Sport, based in Monaco, which oversees development and peacemaking projects through sport.
The name of Sócrates, a genius footballer who died in 2011 at the age of 57, was chosen by France Football because of the involvement of this Brazilian international midfielder in the famous and romantic “Corinthian Democracy”: in full military dictatorship in Brazil in the 1980s, the Corinthians team had made the daring choice to submit all club decisions to a vote.
Another political moment: Ukraine with Shevchenko
“Sócrates has always believed in the mobilizing and transformative power of sport to make society more equal. He demonstrated it as a player through his fight for the redemocratization of Brazil during the revolutionary experience of Corinthian democracy,” Raï recalled in September, in the press release announcing the creation of the prize.
Note that the evening which saw the crowning of Karim Benzema, hailing “the People’s Golden Ball”, was also marked by another political and moving message from former Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko.
“These are very difficult times since the beginning of the war for the Ukrainian people,” said the 2004 winner of the famous distinction. I am very proud to see my country stand up and defend its freedom. I participated in humanitarian aid projects with our President Volodymyr Zelensky. It is very important to remember that the war continues and to stand with Ukraine, to continue to help Ukraine. An intervention greeted by an ovation of about thirty seconds by the assistance made up of big names in world football.