The Corinthians Democracy ( Portuguese: ''Democracia Corinthiana'') was an ideological football movement of the early 1980s in Brazil. It arose in the

Sport Club Corinthians Paulista Sport Club Corinthians Paulista () is a Brazilian professional sports club based in São Paulo, in the district of Tatuapé. Although it competes in multiple sports modalities, it is best known for its professional men's Association football, f ...

team. It introduced an innovative way to manage a club. It was recognized in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

as one of the most important actions in the struggle against dictatorship. At the time, it was a challenge to the military government. It was an idealistic but effective political cell that fought against the authoritarian way the club's management controlled its players, a microcosm of the way the country was governed by the military. It is the only movement of this nature related to a football club at the time. Led by the cultured midfield maestro

Sócrates Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira (19 February 1954 – 4 December 2011), simply known as Sócrates , was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. His medical degree and his political awareness, combined with s ...

Sócrates - midfielder and anti-dictatorship resister , libcom.org
/ref> and by fullback Wladimir, and with the consent of club president Waldemar Pires, the squad players took control over the management of the team

. Sócrates, together with teammate Wladimir, organised the players to discuss and then vote with a simple show of hands on all matters that affected them, ranging from what time they would eat lunch to challenging the ''concentração'', a common practice in Brazil where players were practically locked in a hotel for one or two days before a game. One of the most notable decisions they made was, in 1982, having "Vote on 15th" printed on the back of their shirts to motivate fans to vote in the first Brazilian multiparty election since the 1964 military coup. In those years Corinthians won two Campeonatos Paulistas: 1982 and 1983. In 1984,

revived a contact offer from

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

. Despite the offer, the player was willing to stay in Corinthians if Congress approved the Constitutional Amendment introduced by

Dante de Oliveira Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian ...

, which would restore

direct election Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they want to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are chosen ...

s for President. It did not pass,Sócrates (April 27, 1984) "O Dia do Fico do rei corintiano". Revista Placar. pp.37-40 so the most important leader of Democracy left Corinthians. Its

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

was: "Ganhar ou perder, mas sempre com democracia" ("Win or lose, but always with democracy"). The movement had the backing of artists and intellectuals, such as

senior media creative A creative director is a person who makes high-level creative decisions; oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos; and directs and translates the creative people who produce the end results. Creat ...

Washington Olivetto, who coined the term ''Democracia Corintiana''. Eventually, the government reacted, as Brigadier Jerônimo Bastos, head of the

Brazilian Sports Confederation The Brazilian Sports Confederation (), also known by the acronym CBD, was the main sports confederation of Brazil, competent in the matter of tennis, sport of athletics, athletics, swimming (sport), swimming, water polo, handball, association fo ...

(Portuguese: ''Confederação Brasileira de Desportos'') warned the club for interfering in political affairs.

References

External links

''Socrates and the Corinthians' Democracy''
Al Jazeera English, broadcast May/June 2013 as parts of the series ''Football Rebels'' (video, English, 25 min.) {{Sport Club Corinthians Paulista Military dictatorship in Brazil Sport Club Corinthians Paulista Left-wing politics in sports