No superstition animates Brazilian round ball fans but an incoercible homophobic touch that has been rooted for more than a century, not only on the fields, but also in the cities.
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Au Brazil, the number 24 is not the rating. Worse: it can be considered an insult. But why? 24 ? Chopin’s 24 Preludes? The atomic number of chromium? The number of Tintin albums? The Dordogne? No, no, no and no.
Bramer of the wind
In 1892, Baron Joao Batista Viana Drummond, owner and founder of the Rio Zoo, struggles to make the lair attractive to animals, so that no living soul enters it. Debts are piling up. A closing fragrance unfolds. An idea for a lottery then germinates in his mind of notable. Christened “Jogo do bicho“, “Animal game“for those who do not juggle the Portuguese language, this clandestine lotto sees each bettor, with the entrance ticket in his pocket, choose a box represented by an animal. The number 24 is attributed to the deer, associated with homosexuality in Brazilian popular culture. Simply because male deer can passionately overlap with each other. The association, we concede, has held out until 2022.
On the same topic⋙ “We have moderated the nauseating comments at best”, football clubs face homophobia
⋙ Illumination of the Munich stadium: “As if being homophobic was more tolerable than racist,” believes Ouissem Belgacem
“Veido! “, “Deer!”, this is the supreme expletive in playgrounds and in Brazilian society. Celebrating your 24th birthday is a calvary (23+1 candles exist). Owning an apartment at number 24, a purge. But then the 24 flocked to the back of a player from the Seleçao Brasileira? A mortal sin.
Pity, everything except the 24
Usually, homophobes quietly host international tournaments, with national teams allowed to bring only 23 players on the move. But during the Copa América played last year in Brazil, the Covid pandemic brought with it 28 contenders for the coronation in an exceptional way. All selections were presented with a number 24… except the host country.
The ambient hostility towards the homosexual community and, more broadly, LGBT +, is skyrocketing and football is no exception.
“There is a real taboo, although it may seem crazy. It’s a number like any other, but footballers prefer to use another one so that their masculinity is not called into question“, confides to AFP Bernardo Gonzales, activist and player of a trans futsal team, the Sport Club T Mosqueteiros of São Paulo.
To date, only four players from the 20 clubs of the first national division proudly wear the cursed number. Three of them are in the spring of their careers. Among the brave trio is 19-year-old Santos midfielder Kevin Malthus: “It would be nice if all the clubs had a number 24. It’s just a number, associated with homophobic prejudice. However, it has been worn by great athletes, such as Kobe Bryant”.
For the record, Office 24 of the Brazilian Senate mysteriously disappeared in 2015. A wave of protests and a renewal of the chamber solved the case. Phew.
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