Alexandra "Ale" Benado Vergara (born 11 May 1976) is a Chilean

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

LGBT rights activist A list of notable LGBTQ social movements, LGBTQ rights activists who have worked to advance LGBTQ rights by political change, legal action or publication. Ordered by country, alphabetically. Albania * Xheni Karaj, founder of Aleanca LGBT org ...

and former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and

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. She played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

and has been a member of the Chile women's national team. From 11 March 2022 to 10 March 2023, she served as Minister of Sports of Chile.

Early life

Benado was born on 11 May 1976 in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

to Chilean parents, a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

father and a non-Jewish mother. She lived the following years in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, where she started playing football. Her mother, Lucía Vergara, was a militant of the Revolutionary Left Movement. After Vergara's murder in Chile in 1983, Benado left Europe and moved to Cuba. She settled in Chile in early 1990s.

Club career

Benado joined Sportivo Milano de Colina in 1993. She moved to

CD Palestino Club Deportivo Palestino is a professional football club based in the city of Santiago, Chile and plays in the Primera División de Chile. History The club was founded on 8 August 1920, when they participated in a colonial competition in Osor ...

the following year. She retired from her playing career following an injury prior the

2003 South American Women's Football Championship The 2003 South American Women's Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol Femenino 2003'') was the fourth staging of the South American Women's Football Championship and determined the CONMEBOL's qualifiers for the 2003 FIFA Wo ...

. However, she came out of retirement in September 2009, after Spanish football manager

Marta Tejedor Marta Tejedor Munuera (born 23 December 1968) is a Spanish football coach who most recently managed Birmingham City of the FA Women's Super League. She had also coached the women's national teams of Chile and Peru Peru, officially the Re ...

, who was coaching the Chile women's national team, requested her to come back and be a role model for Chile's next generation players, including

Christiane Endler Claudia Christiane Endler Mutinelli (born 23 July 1991) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Première Ligue club Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, Lyon. She has previously played for C ...

and Yanara Aedo. She was playing for

Provincial Osorno Provincial Osorno is a football club based in Osorno, Los Lagos Region, Chile. The club is currently playing at the third tier of the Chilean football system, the Segunda División. The club were founded on 5 June 1983 and then re-founded on 3 ...

until her definitive retirement in 2011.

International career

Benado represented Chile at the

2010 South American Women's Football Championship The 2010 South American Women's Football Championship () was the sixth edition of the South American Women's Football Championship, and acted as a qualifier for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup and the 2012 Summer Olympics. The tournament was held ...

Personal life

Benado is openly lesbian.

References

External links

* 1976 births Living people Chilean women's footballers Women's association football midfielders Chile women's international footballers Chilean football managers Women's association football managers Chilean politicians Chilean sportsperson-politicians Chilean LGBTQ rights activists Chilean women's rights activists Chilean emigrants to France Chilean emigrants to Cuba Chilean people of Jewish descent Chilean LGBTQ footballers Chilean LGBTQ politicians Chilean lesbians Footballers from Stockholm Politicians from Stockholm Swedish women's footballers Swedish football managers Swedish sportsperson-politicians Swedish LGBTQ rights activists Swedish women's rights activists Swedish emigrants to France Immigrants to Cuba People of Chilean-Jewish descent Swedish people of Chilean descent Sportspeople of Chilean descent Swedish LGBTQ footballers Swedish lesbian sportswomen Swedish lesbian politicians Ministers of sport of Chile Women government ministers of Chile {{Chile-activist-stub