Why Brazilian footballs fans are ditching the yellow jersey

The jersey's association with Brazil's far-right, once an icon of unity and happiness, led soccer fans to give up.

Higor Ramalho, an avid soccer fan, plans to resume his regular trips to soccer stadiums as fears over the spread of the coronavirus ease, restrictions are lifted and the nation gets into the World Cup spirit.

However, the famous yellow jersey associated with the Brazilian national team has been hanging in his closet since June 2018. The last time he wore it was on his birthday. He doesn't know when or if he'll ever wear it again.

"It was a symbol of victory. I wore it not only when watching matches, but also on normal days. Now I stopped wearing it for political reasons. The current president, together with his supporters, turned the yellow jersey into a political campaign and a symbol of his political party.

"And since I don't support their political ideas, I refuse to be mistaken for one of them."

The yellow jersey, known as the "canarinho jersey", has not always been the jersey of the Brazilian national team.

It was designed in 1953, three years after the World Cup final at the hands of Uruguay at the Maracana. The national team then wore white.

The national football governing body, together with the newspaper, announced a competition to design a new kit for the national team, with the condition that the new kit should have the colors of the national flag, as the current one did not "carry the idea of ​​Brazilian nationality. ".

More than 300 entries have been submitted. The winning submission was Aldyr Garcia Schlee, a Brazilian who felt torn by the 1950 result given that he was born on the border with Uruguay.

After many years, including a record five World Cup victories and two Copa America triumphs, the yellow jersey has become a symbol of optimism, happiness and unity among football fans.

The number 10 worn by Pele during his fascinating years on the pitch, Ronaldo's number 9 when he became a World Cup winner and Romario's number 11 during his dazzling run to the 1994 World Cup have all become part of Brazil's rich and successful history at playground.

But the shirt's adoption in political campaigns, most recently by President Jair Bolsonaro and his right-wing supporters before his 2018 election victory, has forced huge numbers of fans to abandon it.

Analysts say the same iconic moments of Brazilian football are being used off the pitch to promote ideas that run counter to the unity that has made the national team and country famous.

"Football is something iconic for Brazil, it's what brings everyone together most of the time," 25-year-old Isabela Guedes told Al Jazeera.

“When [right-wingers] take something so meaningful to the country and use it for political purposes, it's like they're stealing it from us. I don't feel comfortable hanging a flag in the window during the World Cup because I will be mistaken for people with completely different political views.

“They took the flag and the yellow jersey and turned them into political symbols.

o-choice of jersey did not start with Bolsanaro supporters. In 1970, the military dictatorship used the national flag and the image of the team, connecting the essence of Brazil with the team, according to Carolina Fontenelle, a researcher at the Laboratory of Media and Sports Studies at UERJ.

General Medici, then Brazil's military leader, also played a large role in the dismissal of the national team coach before the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.