The political organization Campo Popular Volleyball Players (VdCP), that was born with the purpose of contributing to value sport in politics and from politics in the Frente de Todos, provided a statement repudiating the actions of the Brazilian volleyball player Wallace de Souza, who conducted a survey on a social network in which he asked his followers if they would shoot President Luiz Inácio in the face Lula da Silva.
The athlete, recognized follower of the former president Jair Bolsonaro, leader of the Brazilian far-right, took the survey in response to a follower’s comments on a photo in which he appeared holding a firearm.
The player deleted the controversial poll hours later, which did not prevent the Brazilian government and other authorities from announcing legal action against him.
From VdCP they indicated: “The attempted assassination of the Vice President of the Nation, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, finds us aware of the seriousness that emerges from actions that are part of an escalation of violence that attacks democracy itself.” And they highlighted that “the sequences of incitement of aggression throughout the Patria Grande confirm the relevance of sport, to engage in the defense of the democratic life system”.
The statement says the following:
“Those of us who are part of VdCP express our energetic repudiation of the expressions expressed by the Brazilian volleyball player Wallace de Souza, who on his Instagram account published a poll in which he asked if “I would shoot Lula in the face with that 12” (millimeters). The player, Olympic champion with the Selection of his country, He has been suspended by the management of his current club, Sada Cruzeiro.
From our point of view, these statements constitute a clear example of the important need for demolish the mistaken paradigm of not mixing sport with politics. On the contrary, we believe that sport should be involved in politics, giving space to the power that both have as transformative tools in the personal development of the life of any person and in collective construction.
Just by thinking and training politically, we athletes visualize the importance and scope of our actions and we are in a position to analyze, recognize and prevent events like this from emerging that moves us today”.