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Regional Finalist, SARC 2025

How did authoritarian regimes use football for political propaganda, and what were its social and symbolic impacts across historical contexts?

By Marianna Figueiredo Magalhães, Brazil

Context:

This research seeks to investigate how football, a global cultural phenomenon, was used as a political propaganda tool by authoritarian regimes. Through the analysis of specific historical cases - such as Italy under Mussolini's fascism, Brazil during the Civil-Military Dictatorship, Argentina in the 1978 World Cup and Spain under the Franco regime - the study seeks to understand how these governments took advantage of the popular passion for football to legitimize their regimes and divert attention from political and social crises.

Background:

Since the first half of the 20th century, authoritarian regimes have recognized the emotional and unifying power of football and have used it strategically for political ends. In Italy, Benito Mussolini used the 1934 World Cup, hosted in the country, as a showcase for the fascist regime, promoting imposing stadiums and controlling the behind-the-scenes aspects to ensure the victory of the Italian team. In Spain, Francoism highlighted Real Madrid as a symbol of Spanish nationalism, while at the same time repressing regional cultures. In Brazil, during the Civil-Military Dictatorship, winning the 1970 World Cup was turned into a symbol of supposed national progress. In Argentina, the 1978 World Cup was used by the military junta as a strategy to obtain international legitimacy, despite allegations of torture and disappearances. These examples show a pattern of political use of football, with ideological and strategic objectives.

Furthermore, the use of football as a propaganda tool was not limited to the impact of victories and defeats. These sporting events also helped to create a collective narrative, a shared identity, which often masked the negative aspects of the regime. Authoritarian regimes, by celebrating sporting achievements as symbols of national unity, were able to divert attention from political and social atrocities, generating a sense of unity and contentment among the population. Football, in this context, functioned as an emotional escape valve, giving people a sense of victory and belonging, while political issues and abuses of power were ignored or silenced. The use of sport to form a “unified” national identity not only helped to maintain political stability, but also generated a kind of implicit consent from the population regarding state repression and violence.

Objective:

Analyze how football is used as a tool of political propaganda by authoritarian regimes, evaluating the social and cultural impact of this manipulation on the societies involved, as well as the long-term effects of this use on collective behavior and the construction of a national identity associated with the regime.

Literature review:

David Goldblatt, in The Ball is Round, argues that football goes beyond the boundaries of sport to become a powerful political and social instrument. Ronaldo Helal, in Copas do Mundo: comunicação e identidade cultural no país do futebol, discusses how the 1970 team was used by the Civil-Military Dictatorship as a symbol of a supposedly strong, modern and victorious country. Eduardo Archetti, studying the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, demonstrates how the military regime turned the tournament into a strategy for international legitimization. Sid Lowe, in Fear and Loathing in La Liga, examines how Real Madrid was associated with Francoism, while Barcelona represented political and cultural resistance. Simon Martin, in Football and Fascism, investigates how Mussolini's fascist regime used the 1934 World Cup as a tool to promote an image of strength and national order. Despite these studies, there are still gaps in the comparative analysis of the political use of football in different authoritarian regimes, which justifies the proposal of this research.

Methodology:

This research will be developed through a qualitative, historical and comparative approach, focused on the analysis of four authoritarian regimes in different sociopolitical contexts: Italian fascism (Mussolini), Spanish Francoism (Franco), the Brazilian Civil-Military dictatorship (1964–1985) and the Argentine dictatorship (1976– 1983). The objective is to understand how these regimes used football as a tool of political propaganda, identifying common strategies, national characteristics and the social and symbolic impact of this instrumentalization. The first stage will consist of a critical literature review focusing on authors in the fields of sports sociology, political history, communication and propaganda. Priority will be given to studies that directly explore the links between sports and authoritarian regimes, such as those by David Goldblatt, Simon Martin, Sid Lowe, Ronaldo Helal and Eduardo Archetti. The second stage will involve a documentary analysis of official speeches, campaign images, period reports, sports coverage and other propaganda materials produced or used by the regime in question. The objective is to identify how football was discursively framed as a symbol of power, order, nationalism and collective identity. The primary sources will come from digital archives, historical newspapers and public databases.

In addition, documentaries and audiovisual records that deal with the relationship between football and politics in the periods examined will be analyzed, such as Democracia em Preto e Branco (2014) and Memórias de Chumbo (2012), which address the symbolic role of sport during authoritarian regimes in Latin America. The evaluation will be guided by categories such as political propaganda, construction of national identity, sports spectacle, censorship, symbolic manipulation and expressions of cultural resistance. The research will not be limited to describing historical events, but will also seek to compare them systematically to recognize narrative patterns and recurring tactics among different authoritarian regimes. In the end, the aim is to construct a critical and comprehensive analysis of the role of football as a means of legitimation and strengthening politics in authoritarian contexts.

References:

1. Archetti, E. P. (1995). Estilo y virtudes masculinas en El Gráfico: La creación del imaginario del fútbol argentino. Desarrollo Económico, 35(139), 419–442. https://doi.org/10.2307/3467209

2. Asbeg, P. (Director). (2014). Democracia em preto e branco [Democracy in Black and White] [Documentary]. TVZERO; ESPN Brasil.

3. Goldblatt, D. (2007). The ball is round: A global history of football. Penguin Books.

4. Helal, R. (2014). Copas do mundo: Comunicação e identidade cultural no país do futebol [World Cups: Communication and Cultural Identity in the Country of Football]. EdUERJ.

5. Lowe, S. (2012). Fear and loathing in La Liga: Barcelona vs Real Madrid. Yellow Jersey Press.

6. Martin, S. (2004). Football and fascism: The national game under Mussolini. Berg Publishers.

7. Castro, L. de. (2012). Memórias do chumbo: O futebol nos tempos do Condor [Memories of Lead: Football in the Times of Condor] [Documentary series]. ESPN Brasil

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