Why Women's Soccer Was Banned in Brazil — Until 1979
Why Women's Soccer Was Banned in Brazil Until 1979
By Ryan Wallerson
Before the penalty shoot-out that decided the semifinal of the Olympic womens soccer tournament in Rio de Janeiro this summer, Brazilians had grown cautiously hopeful that their newfound heroes would pull through. When their side fell to Sweden, 4-3, Brazils captain and five-time player of the year Marta Vieira da Silva fell to her knees, weeping. Her teammates and coach put aside their own sorrow to console her, understanding full well that Martas tears were about more than one fútbol match.
Brazilians are famously soccer-obsessed, but that addiction applies only to the mens game. The country largely ignores womens soccer, whose matches have historically suffered from low attendance and inadequate funding at both the club and national level. During the Olympics, the womens team grabbed the countrys attention because it looked, at least for a while, like they were more likely to bring home Brazils first gold medal than the men. When the ladies lost, attention swiftly shifted back to the men, who caught fire in the knockout stages and ultimately nabbed gold.
For the womens team, and Marta especially, the loss felt like a missed opportunity to earn Brazils respect for good. Though the team did fall short, the attention it garnered was an impossible dream not so long ago. From the moment soccer arrived in Brazil, from Europe, in the mid-1800s, it was an exclusionary game. At first, it was played only by the countrys male white elite. As the mens game began to diversify at the turn of the 20th century, women also began leaving the stands for the pitch. There is debate over when the first womens soccer match was played, but historian Fábio Franzini has written about at least 10 womens teams, including Cassino Realengo and the Eva Futebol Clube, competing in tournaments in Rio de Janeiro as early as 1940.
As the popularity of womens soccer surged in Brazil, a citizen named José Fuzeira grew concerned and wrote a letter to then-president Getúlio Vargas. Fuzeira contended that women who went into football would compromise both their reproductive organs and sense of femininity, noting that within a year it is probable that throughout Brazil there will be
200 centers to destroy the health of 2,200 future mothers, who, moreover, will be caught in a depressive mentality and given to rude and extravagant exhibitions.
More:
http://www.ozy.com/flashback/why-womens-soccer-was-banned-in-brazil-until-1979/72241