It started, and that fan atmosphere gains space in each game of the Brazilian team. People have fun at home or on dates with friends. After all, who doesn’t participate in a raffle?
This World Cup atmosphere reminded me of an episode of the Spanish series, on Netflix, which, in a humorous way, addresses themes related to gender relations. The plot follows the lives of four friends and, in one of the scenes, they talk about when one of them states: “Football players earn more because the market values this sport more than the women’s sport.”
The justification seems intuitive: men’s football attracts larger audiences and, consequently, more sponsorship and revenue. Few would disagree with that. The relevant question, however, is to understand why these disparities emerged and persist over time.
The arrival of football in Brazil is traditionally dated to 1894, when Charles Miller returned from England bringing not only the rules of the game, but also the equipment necessary to play the first matches. In 1901, the Paulista Football League was created. At the national level, the sport was structured in 1914, when the first Brazilian team was formed.
Initially restricted to elites, football gradually incorporated players from outside this group. Professionalization only occurred in the 1930s. Women, however, remained on the sidelines of this process.
According to Carmen Rial and Caroline Almeida, in 1940 there was a defamation campaign, including in the press, against women’s football. The founder of the Primavera club, Carlota Resende, was arrested for pimping. In this hostile environment, in 1941, decree-law 3,199, signed by Getúlio Vargas, prohibited the practice of women’s football on the grounds that it would be incompatible with the nature of women. The restriction was reinforced in 1965 by deliberation no. 7 of the National Sports Council. The ban was only revoked in 1979, and official regulation only occurred in 1983.
The first men’s football team was formed in 1914; the female one, more than seven decades later. This difference had a significant impact and may help explain some of the disparities observed to date. Men’s football had much more time to consolidate. It’s only been relatively recently that we’ve become accustomed to seeing female commentators, referees and linesmen in competitions. Furthermore, the pay gap between men and women in professional football is substantial, especially at the top of the sport.
I’m not a big football connoisseur, but wouldn’t the women’s game be more dynamic if the field was a little smaller? The rules were defined based on men’s football, and the sport continues to be mostly run by men, which, in itself, can bring some bias to this discussion.
In basketball, for example, the ball is smaller for women’s teams; in volleyball, the net is lower; and, in Grand Slam tennis tournaments, women play best-of-three sets, while men play best-of-five sets. Having different rules does not diminish the value of the sport; In many cases, it is just a matter of adapting the competition conditions to the characteristics of the athletes.
The market translates, through prices, the determinants of supply and demand for football. In this sense, the conversation between friends in the series “Alpha Males” is not wrong. What we often forget is that there is an entire historical and institutional context that helps explain how we got here. We will not change this reality overnight, but we can reduce these disparities over time. The growth of women’s football in Brazil is encouraging. Happy World Cup to everyone.
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