If you ask a person who does not play soccer what country they believe has the greatest history in the sport, it seems almost inevitable their answer will be the country of blue and yellow: Brazil. In the history of their country football has played a pivotal role both in the socioeconomic and political standpoint. By soccer becoming political, in my opinion, it brought out its popularity which led to the globalization of their name being the face of soccer and political corruption. However, Brazil is not the only country to mix football with politics; as I will go into detail after Brazil, Argentina's history resides in a similar situation. Throughout Brazil’s political history, the country itself has gone through many forms of government and hardships that separated the population. Most notably, in the 1960s and 1970s, the Brazilian government was riddled with governmental corruption. Those who were against the military dictatorship were treated brutally tortured and denied basic rights. In this time period is also when a national …show more content…
Professional organized football began in 1931 with the formation of the Liga Argentina de Football and immediately the incorporation of the political aspect of football coincided. Political leaders become the presidents of the clubs within in the Liga Argentina de Football and used their clubs as a form of political propaganda similar to Brazil (Duke, Crolley 101). In my opinion, this form of government seems corrupt and unfair for a multitude of reasons. Most notably, these political leaders are exploiting football instead of their actual political ideology as a tool to gain popularity from their local citizens. Therefore they are gaining popularity not on what they are doing in office, but by supporting a club and attending the games which in time gains their popularity and allows them to have more freedom to do what they want