Corinthians Democracy
The Democracy of Corinthians ( German for Democracia Corinthiana ) was a movement that emerged in the 1980s in the team of the Brazilian football club Corinthians São Paulo . It was led by a group of politically active players such as Sócrates , Vladimir , Casagrande and Zenon and represented the largest ideological movement in the history of Brazilian football .
In that period of the club's history, important decisions were made, such as player obligations, assembly rules and the like. a. met by vote, which resulted in a kind of self-administration .
history
Beginnings
In 1981 Corinthians had a very poor season in Brazil's first division and in the São Paulo state championship . When Vicente Matheus' presidency ended in April 1982, Waldemar Pires was elected as his successor at the top of the club. Pires appointed the sociologist Adilson Monteiro Alves as sports director, who listened to the players. In connection with politically interested footballers such as Sócrates and Wladimir, the upheaval within the club began.
The democracy
From then on, a system of self-administration was installed in which the players, sports management and the board of directors made important decisions such as signings, layoffs, lineups or the place of assembly by voting . An important aspect was that every voice of a player, coach or official was weighted equally.
Corinthians was the first Brazilian club to advertise their shirts . On the initiative of the advertising copywriter Washington Olivetto (inventor of the expression Democracia Corinthiana ), the association put political messages on the jerseys, such as Diretas já (“direct elections now”) or Eu quero votar para presidente (“I want to elect the president”). The motto of the association was Ganhar ou perder, mas semper com democracia ( Portuguese "win or lose, but always with democracy"). At that time, there was a military dictatorship in Brazil , so the Corinthians' involvement became particularly explosive. At the same time, the social movements began to become active again for the establishment of a democracy . The troubled military therefore asked the association through Brigadier General Jerônimo Bastos for moderation.
The revolutionary approach bore fruit. The team reached the semi-finals of the Brazilian championship round of that year and won the national championship in 1982 and 1983. In addition, Corinthians paid off all its liabilities during the self-administration phase and even made a profit of the equivalent of three million US dollars in the next season.
The end
Starting in 1984, consideration was given to founding the Clube dos 13 , to which one could only be admitted through the president. In addition, the team achieved poor results in the 1984 and 1985 seasons and in particular clubs with classic management such as Flamengo took the lead in the national championship.
In 1984 Sócrates moved to Fiorentina in Italy . He had previously stated that he wanted to stay with Corinthians if the Emenda Constitucional Dante de Oliveira were passed, which would have made direct election of the Brazilian president possible. However, the constitutional amendment failed in parliament. 1985 saw the first free parliamentary elections in Brazil, which marked the end of the military dictatorship. With that, the Democracia lost its importance.
Shortly afterwards, modern (club) football, coming from Europe, took root, bringing private funds and management across the Atlantic. Wishes for a return to the movement were articulated, but faded away in view of the now prevailing international forces of influence from FIFA and UEFA with a view to the 1990 World Cup .
TV documentary
In 2011, the documentary Ser Campeão é Detalhe - Democracia Corinthiana (free: "Siegen is irrelevant - Democracia Corinthiana") premiered, which deals with the movement and contains numerous comments from participants, including by Sócrates, to whom the film is dedicated and who on this occasion an honor was awarded.
Sócrates and the Democracia Corinthiana were one of the themes of a film documentary moderated by Éric Cantona from 2012 called " Rebels on the Ball ".
criticism
Despite all the admiration from the media and the majority of football fans, the movement has also been criticized by athletes such as goalkeepers Emerson Leão and Rafael Cammarota:
“De democracia not tinha nada. Era um movimento bom para os que comandavam, mas os outros só batiam palma. A Democracia Corintiana tinha os quatro traíras: Sócrates , Wladimir e Casagrande , que era bocudo, além do Adilson Monteiro Alves. "
“It had nothing of democracy. It helped those who were the leaders, but the others just clapped their hands. The Democracia Corinthiana had four cardsharps: Sócrates , Wladimir and Casagrande , who was a babbler, and Adilson Monteiro Alves. "
literature
- SOCRATES & GOZZI: Democracia Corintiana - A Utopia em Jogo . Editora Boitempo
- OLIVETTO, Washington and BEIRÃO, Nirlando: Corinthians é preto no branco . Editora DBA
- UNZELTE, Celso Dario: Almanaque do Timão . Editora Abril
- FLORENZANO, José Paulo: A Democracia Corinthiana - Práticas de liberdade no futebol brasileiro
Web links
- Alois Gstöttner and Karina Lackner: Sócrates: From flags and freedoms In: Zero Eight ; sighted: April 10, 2010
- Ser Campeão é Detalhe official blog (Portuguese)
- Socrates and the Corinthians' Democracy . Al Jazeera English, broadcast in May / June 2013 in the Football Rebels series(video, English, 25 min.)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b “Sócrates et la Démocratie corinthiane” (French) , Les Cahiers du football , April 2004
- ↑ "Washington Olivetto and the Democracia Corinthiana " (Portuguese) ( Memento of the original from December 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , professorcortez.com , September 28, 2010
- ↑ a b Film about Corinthians with commentary by Sócrates in São Paulo (Portuguese)
- ↑ Documentation about Democracia Corinthiana published in São Paulo (Portuguese) ( Memento of the original from October 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Film about the Democracia Corinthiana with Sócrates' memories released (Portuguese)
- ↑ Article about the documentation "Rebels on the Ball"
- ↑ Ex-goleiro Rafael reduced Democracia Corinthiana a quatro traíras (Portuguese)
- ↑ Democracia Corintiana - A Utopia em Jogo (Portuguese)
