With a bass drum, Valeria González dictates the rhythm of the chants of an unusual group of fans in a Colombian stadium, where groups of women are organizing to ban machismo from football.
“One, two, three!” she shouts, counting to eleven in honor of her team’s name during a match in Manizales, in central Colombia, surrounded by women who aspire to one day celebrate and watch football games without fear.
To the rhythm of González, 27 years old, thousands of Once Caldas fans, men and women, sing at the Palogrande Stadium. In the female fan base, she has the support of her fellow Futboleras and Fortineras, made up of around 40 women fans of the Copa Libertadores champion club in 2004.
“I studied architecture, but I always tell my grandmother that when they ask ‘What does your granddaughter do?’, she should say that I’m an organized fan, because architecture is just a hobby,” González tells AFP before entering the stadium to watch the local championship match, armed with giant Once Caldas flags that she keeps like a treasure.
Amid the festive atmosphere of musical instruments and flags, some fans say they have already been victims of abuse and, therefore, their objective is to create a safe space, following initiatives already underway in Brazil and Chile.
Belonging
In Colombia there have been around ten such groups since 2004, which support clubs such as Independiente Medellín, Deportivo Pereira, América de Cali and Santa Fe.
Doctor Natasha Peláez found support in these organizations after reporting that a club fan touched her without her consent.
“I joined the Futboleras and gained a place within the fans, I felt like I finally belonged to something,” he says.
Since the formation of the fans, they have tried to change the mentality of men and put an end to practices such as using their partners to bring objects — often weapons or drugs — into stadiums hidden in their private parts.
They also promote a change in chants. They reject, for example, the expression “cabaret prostitute” used by Once Caldas fans to insult rival players.
“We replaced these chants with more neutral phrases, because we can cheer with the same passion without insulting our gender,” says Maria José García, member of the Fortineras.
They also support the league’s women’s team, where the atmosphere in the stands tends to be much less hostile.
“Violent fans”
In Cali, in the southwest, 33-year-old nurse Yinna Pito worked in a hospital a few steps from the Pascual Guerrero stadium, the home of América de Cali.
There, he says, he got used to treating dozens of fans injured in fights between organized fans and seeing cases of women drugged against their will to be abused in stadiums.
“I had a reality check,” he says.
Her experience with “this violent fan culture” led her to create the Escarlata Feminist Football Collective, through which she hopes to provide a safe space for women in sports facilities.
Brazil, host of the 2027 Women’s World Cup, has similar experiences.
In the South American giant, football was banned for women between 1941 and 1979. After the end of the ban, the country became a powerhouse in the sport and a regional pioneer of female initiatives related to the sport.
“My whole family supports Corinthians (…), but I had never been to the stadium because my father was too afraid of the fights”, says Amanda Custodio, 28 years old, in São Paulo.
Today, she leads the Fiel Fazendinha collective, a group of fans who support the Corinthians women’s team at the stadium.
Argentina, other side of the coin
Although machismo seems to be the law in most South American stadiums, women in Argentina have lived their passion without the risks faced elsewhere.
The most popular clubs, Boca Juniors and River Plate, eliminated female stands decades ago and declared all sectors of their stadiums mixed.
“I’ve been going to the River stadium since before I was born, first in my mother’s belly and then my whole life,” says Nathalie Goldstejn, a 30-year-old teacher. “Violence because I’m a woman? I’ve never suffered.”
Lidia Otero, a 74-year-old housewife, says she has been a member of her beloved Boca “since birth.” He always guarantees that he was able to support his idols in La Bombonera without any problems.
“I went alone or with my two young daughters,” she says in Buenos Aires. “I’ve never had any problems.”
