Controversy over shirt number 24
Shirt number has become a heated political issue
Rio de Janeiro giants Flamengo won the local Taca Guanabara tournament in February, coming from behind to beat humble opponents Boavista 2-1 in the Final, with the decisive goal scored by Gabriel Barbosa.
Nothing much of a surprise there as the game went to form and the match winner lived up to his “Gabi-goal” moniker.
But there was something very different about Fla’s star striker. Instead of the usual number nine on his back, Barbosa was wearing the number 24 shirt – which until recently would have been unthinkable.
The explanation comes with a convoluted history lesson. Back in 1892, when Baron Drummond was thinking of ways to raise funds for his zoo in Rio, he came up with the idea of a lottery in which each number bore a relation to one of his animals. His invention, the jogo do bicho (“animal game”) proved a smash success. Although technically illegal, the lottery is tolerated and still runs today. And although it has long since lost any connection with the zoo, a link remains between one of the numbers and an animal – and 24 is the number of the deer.
The word “deer” (veado in Portuguese) is a pejorative term for a homosexual and it is all encompassing. In any situation of conflict it is usually the first word employed to insult a man and it echoes around football stadiums with depressing banality. Brazil is, after all, a traditional macho society.
Twenty four never usually appears on Brazilian team sheets, while in continental competitions, where number 1 to 30 are compulsory, the shirt will be handed to someone with little chance of making an appearance, hidden away with a reserve keeper. And for the country’s international stars the fact that World Cup squads only go up to 23 is a huge relief.
But then Corinthians signed midfielder Victor Cantillo from Colombian side Junior. Having traditionally worn 24 in his homeland, where the number has no such connotations, Cantillo was told by Corinthians director Duilio Monteiro Alves at his official presentation in January that he would have to choose a different number because no one at the club would be using 24.
It was a foolish remark, for which Duilio later apologized, and it provoked a backlash. Why shouldn’t Cantillo, or any other player for that matter, wear the number 24?
In the forefront of the reaction were Bahia, a club that in recent times has been known to frequently take progressive positions.
“Football is a channel that can be used to accentuate the worst in our society such as racism, aggression, violence and intolerance,” said Bahia president Guilherme Bellintani. “But it can also be
“We think that clubs have to choose whether they will be channels for love or hate. We choose love”
Bahia president Guilherme Bellintani
used to serve different purposes: to spread culture, affection, sensibility, improving human relations.
“We think that clubs have to choose whether they will be channels for love or hate. We choose love.”
And so, before January was out, Bahia midfielder Flavio was also proudly wearing the number 24 shirt. A campaign, “ask for the 24”, was launched and others were quick to follow. Alan Ruschel of Chapecoense, a survivor of the club’s air tragedy, took up the cause, as did Fluminense’s veteran attacking midfielder Nene.
It is undeniable that impetus was added by the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, the basketball star who had often worn that number, and donning the 24 could also be seen as a tribute to him. But it was also striking that players were keen to associate themselves with the anti-homophobic message.
This might come across as a paradox, since Brazil has a far-right government which appears to be concerned more than anything else with promoting social conservatism. Supporters of the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, speak endlessly of so-called
“family values” and he himself has a long track record of homophobic statements. Last year, in New York, Bolsonaro declared: “Brazil can’t be the country of gay tourism. We have families.” And yet the world of Brazilian football, which has broadly supported Bolsonaro, has with surprising speed adopted a pro-tolerance position.
The battle will doubtlessly rage for many years to come. One judge in the sports justice system recently ruled that a terrace chant of “time of veados” was not homophobic – which left an obvious question: if that is not homophobic, then what is? When asked, the judge was unable to formulate a coherent reply. But society is advancing and last year Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that homophobia is a crime.
Any stigma or controversy around the number 24 shirt will now have surely been laid to rest.
Gabriel Barbosa is currently the biggest star in the domestic game. Not only is he wearing the shirt and scoring decisive goals with it, he is also helping to see off an old taboo.