Sports and Politcs: Brazil's football Santa Plays Christmas Scrooge

Santa and his reindeer came from the North Pole and played Scrooge for futebol, the nation's most popular spectator sport. Poor attendance, lackluster play and massive debts find even the most famous clubs tightening their belts.

Players are griping because teams delay paychecks. Managers balk at signing for less money. Third party syndicates continue to own shares of players like slices of churrasco, dribbling around FIFA rules.

Government subsidized football hasn't improved quality

Brazil's version of big government has traditionally played Santa for the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), the FIFA entity at the top of the nation's futebol food chain.

But carrying the perennially debt plagued organization in spite of charges of improper activity has made going to the public trough for loans and credits problematic. The situation is further complicated because overbilling on World Cup stadiums and other scandals sparked violent protests last year and during the recent presidential campaign.

Around a dozen first division teams with national reputations have formed a loose association that shares the lion's share of revenues gained from broadcasting rights and CBF-licensed merchandise and other endorsements. This move has drawn the ire of competitive but poorly financed first and second division teams.

While the subsidization of futebol, in theory, has been justified as a method of improving the quality of a sport that is the historic symbol of national pride, money hungry CBF teams assign a greater importance to finding young players with potential, training them and later selling or transferring them at top dollar to clubs or syndicates active in the English Premier League and in Europe. Neymar, David Luiz, Hulk (who never played one full season in Brazil) and others are examples of this process.There are lots more.

Being a feeder league that offshores its best talent weakens not only the national sports infrastructure but the product that CBF teams put on the field. 

Sometimes these “internationals” return home, used up, hoping to cash in on their fading stardom. (note:This theme was discussed in my article on the World Cup that appeared here in July.) Ronaldino Gaucho returned from Italy and is now playing in the Mexican First Division but tries only when he feels like it. Adriano, formerly an all-world player in Italy, spent too much time in the fast lane, experienced lifestyle burn out and is hoping to catch on with a second division side in France. 

Political endorsements by World Cup stars fail to attract voters

Hoping to exploit the anti Dilma groundswell that gained momentum during election season (with international help from The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times and The Economist), candidate Aecio Neves of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (center-right orientation) brought in two of Brazil's most famous futebol stars, Neymar and Ronaldo to endorse his bid for the presidency.

Neves is the grandson of Tacredo Neves, the late political icon from Minas Gerias state who served as minister under the presidencies of Getulio Vargas and Juscelino Kubitchek. He would have become Brazil's first president after the military junta authorized elections but complications from abdominal surgery resulted in his death just days before taking office. Aecio, who has plenty of political baggage of his own, seems to have the felling that he is entitled to be president to carry on the legacy of his grandfather. So far, his ambitions have been as blind as those of former U.S. president Richard M. Nixon.

With street protesters linking Brazilian football with corruption, local media outed Ronaldo for renting his luxury Rio home to FIFA president Sepp Blatter during the World Cup for 404,000 pounds. Neymar, while not faced with charges, was buzzed up to the tax fraud case associated with his transfer to Barcelona from Brazil.

Needless to say the strategy  Aecio Neves hoped would garnner the votes of futebol fans backfired.

President Dilma Rousseff distanced her government from the futebol mess and won reelection over Neves by 3 million votes. Neves and his supporters said the election was “rigged” and called for a full vote recount (refused by the Supreme Electoral Court). He continues to lead a movement calling for the impeachment of president Dilma.

Can a political image maker improve the reputation of futebol?

Incoming CBF president Marco Polo del Nero, currently president of the powerful Sao Paulo Football Federation, has brought in a conservative political marketer Walter Feldman, with the motive of creating a new image for the organization.

Feldman, a medical doctor and former federal deputy under the banner of the same PSDB party as Neves, subsequently jumped to the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) where he designed the unsuccessful campaign of accidental presidential candidate Marina Silva. Silva carpetbagged to the PSB and accepted the vice presidential nomination of the party, after her attempt to get her "Sustainability Network" on the ballot was rejected by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal for failing to obtain enough valid signatures. After the verdict of the court Silva told media that  "the electoral court does not respect the consitution."  When presidential candidate Eduardo Campos died in the crash of a small leased jet aircraft (which Silva was supposed to be traveling on) in August, she was made the presidential candidate of the party amidst controversial negotiations that divided the organization. Recently a senior member of the PSB told media that "Maria was never one of us."

Marina, whose rags to riches story going from illiterate rubber tapper to becoming environment minister under president Lula and a two-time presidential candidate, has gained international attention. Although she is on the fringes of  Brazilian power politics at this time, and looking for new financial backers, The Financial Times just listed her as one of the most influential women of 2014.

In spite of Feldman's guidance Silva's presidential bid lost momentum. She started saying that she felt "persecuted" by the attack advertising of president Dilma's campaign. She had plenty of her own, however. When Marina didn't make it to the final run-off Feldman was out of a job and del Nero made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

Whether Feldman rebuilds the image of the CBF like he tried to do with Marina Silva, or puts a slick PR wrapper over the never ending allegations of corruption and cronyism remains to be seen.

Fans and Brazil's image as a global sports power are the big losers

Santa isn't bringing any gifts to Brazil's fans either.

Creeping inflation and high credit card rates are making it difficult for middle income Brazilians, already struggling to make monthly payments on homes and automobiles, to take their families to games and buy licensed CBF jerseys and other revenue producing merchandise.

A licensed CBF notebook with the logo of big name teams like Flamengo, Botafogo and Corinthians, a must have for many schoolboys, costs 14 rials (just over 3 pounds), as much as a 4 megabyte hard drive. 

Santa brought a small gift for the national team under returning manager Carlos Dunga. Last Christmas they were not among the top 10 teams. After being humilitared by Germany in the World Cup they have played their way back into the top 10, ranking 6^th in the world in the FIFA-Coca Cola standings. But the fact that 80 percent of the national team who play overseas are millionaires and are treated that way by Brazilian sports media doesn't help the nation's reputation. While fans struggle to earn money to pay for licensed Neymar jerseys, which can cost upwards of $100, the Barcelona and national team star relaxes on his luxurious Italian-made yacht, worth 5 million British pounds.

Futebol Santa brings Pele the priceless gift of life

The best gift the futebol Santa brought Brazil this year is priceless. It is the gift of life, for Pele, who was released from hospital after two weeks of treatment (including dialysis and antibiotics) for a problem with his one remaining kidney.

Few people knew that Pele helped Brazil win 3 FIFA World Cups playing with just one functioning kidney. At the end of his career, while playing for the Cosmos in New York surgeons removed the non-working kidney and the press never learned about it.

As Brazil's top sides count the coals in their stockings and sell their best players to the Premier League and Europe Pele's lust for life can remind them it's time to make the game he made beautiful beautiful again.

Note: portions of this blog post have been cross-posted from the authors blogs at AOL Huffington Post United States, and Huffington Post United Kingdom