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ARTS CULTURE EQUALITY FEMINISM FOOTBALL MUSIC RACIAL EQUALITY

Brazil mourns the loss of Elza Soares

With a career that spanned nearly 70 years and 34 albums, Brazil’s beloved singer and activist passed away peacefully at the age of 91 by Brian Mier In 1953, a young woman appeared at an amateur singing competition in the auditorium of a Rio de Janeiro radio show. Her borrowed clothes, too big for her, […]

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DEMOCRACY FOOTBALL

The Shirt Off Our Backs

Facing worst shirt sales ever in the lead up to a World Cup, Brazil’s football federation the CBF has moved to ban sale of unofficial “Leftist” versions of the national team’s iconic jersey. A blazing red, and carrying both the antique logo of the CBD – the CBF’s predecessor organisation – and a hammer and sickle, […]

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FOOTBALL

Primeira Liga: Brasil’s Premier League Moment?

This time last year, in an article entitled “Bom Senso F.C. & a battle for the soul of Brazilian football”, published on Brasil Wire, I wrote about the potential for a breakaway of Brasil’s major clubs from the Jurassic power structure that controls Brazilian football, headed by national and state federations. In 1992, England’s largest […]

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ECONOMY FOOTBALL

Bom Senso F.C. & a battle for the soul of Brazilian Football

In 1992, England’s biggest clubs broke away from the Football League to create their own top-flight division. These clubs realised that with their huge popularity and importance to their respective communities, they were the ones in control and no longer had to defer to a league that did not serve their interests. The result, the […]

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64-85 DICTATORSHIP CULTURE FILM FOOTBALL HISTORY POLITICS

Democracy in Black and White – Football and the Fight Against Dictatorship

The role of the Corinthians’ Democracy in Brasil’s re-democratization: Director Pedro Asbeg discusses Democracy in Black & White Fear of police, social tyranny and a highly repressive government once marked everyday life in Brasil. In the Pedro Asbeg directed documentary Black and White Democracy (Democracia em Preto e Branco), Asbeg spotlights an exceptional period in Brazilian […]

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FOOTBALL LONGFORM SÃO PAULO

The Palmeiras Problem

by Euan Marshall Palmeiras’ 1-0 win against Coritiba on Saturday evening was less than convincing, but was enough to temporarily lift the traditional São Paulo club out of the relegation zone in the Brazilian championship. Seeing big clubs near the bottom of the table is not uncommon in Brazil, with Rio de Janeiro teams Flamengo […]