“Stupidity is different from ignorance. Ignorance is ignorance of facts and possibilities. Stupidity is a force of nature” (Nelson Rodrigues).
Once again, I will invoke my great idol, Nelson Rodrigues, and rewrite his column Character of the Week. I know it’s a big dare.
The regional championships ended, and with the Fluminense champion in Rio de Janeirothis character had everything to be tricolor.
Despite the press trying to take all the shine out of the disputes, from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, mainly, under the eyes of sponsors, fans, lovers of the Breton sport, we had electrifying games culminating in the finals.
With this fact, Nelson Rodrigues would point out the tricolor striker Cano as his character. After all, his heart beat for the Laranjeiras rice powder.
I’m going to ask him, as the creator of the column, and you, as the reader, for permission to point out another character, but from the point of view of sports marketing, which is my subject.
It is not new that football professionals get into big troubles because of posts on social networks.
It is also not new that these athletes, when scoring a goal, take off their shirts, depriving the sponsor of the best photos with their respective brands.
Another commonplace fact is fights, for reasons that, rationally, do not make much sense, if analyzed a few minutes later. It seems difficult for these professionals to understand that, when they become idols, they assume a much bigger role than simply being a football player.
How many children are registered with the name of these characters, for example? However, I didn’t see, I don’t see, and most likely I won’t see any of the companies involved in the disputes express themselves in relation to these facts, which only contribute to generating more violence in the stadiums and at the end of the day contribute to reducing the amounts paid to clubs .
I saw a video posted on Instagram in which a number of fans of a certain team attacked a man, accompanied by his daughter, just because he was rooting for the opponent. What did he do? He was in the wrong place, still outside the stadium. A cowardice.
The athlete needs to convince himself that he is an example for his fans and admirers. The club has to include in its marketing plan that these attitudes are very harmful to its own brand and its sponsors and, therefore, curbing them will always be the best way.
And the organizers, those who bought the naming rights of the championship, well these are not even worth commenting, such is the lack of preparation to face these events.
But our subject here is the Character of the Week. In addition to the top scorer in the carioca final, we could also indicate the four fans involved, who put on a show apart during the 180 minutes of ball rolling. Fantastic energy coming from the stands.
It’s no wonder that the three stadiums involved were always packed.
We could also highlight the two champion coaches for their work, with greater emphasis on the champion of São Paulo, Palmeiras, for his recent and victorious trajectory.
Our Nelson would say that all this was written 400 years ago, even before the referee’s whistle blew that would start the competition.
As fate would have it, the final in Rio de Janeiro fell on a Saturday and the one in São Paulo on Sunday. A great danger, because the Supernatural of Almeida could attack in both battles.
The last two matches were sensational, with greater emphasis on what happened at Allianz Park, given the drama of the game itself.
I think everyone can and should applaud and recognize the results.
But I want to get back to Character of the Week. And he appears only once. Simple. In fact, to be more correct, it does not appear. But he brings us a revealing image. An absolutely revealing moment. One of the most ridiculous scene I’ve ever seen. Delegation of São Paulo leaving the stadium.
Of course, athletes disappointed. At one point, a boy seems to be filming the passage of the São Paulos. He, with the Palmeiras shirt. When passing by the boy, the striker of São Paulo Calleri, slaps the boy’s hand throwing his cell phone to the ground.
Players continue to walk. Filming stops. The problem is that the video went viral, obviously. It was in all the media on Monday, April 4th. The championship didn’t need this attitude. None of those involved in the disputes needed to. The club didn’t need it either.
For me, at the very least, São Paulo should send an apology, especially to the boy, who had his cell phone damaged, and of course accompanied by a new cell phone, the most expensive there is.
But the news shows that Calleri was willing to pay for the repair of the device. For what he receives monthly, this sum will represent a huge financial effort on his part.
Dear readers, how long will we have idols who have no idea what they represent for their fans, for the sport, for the whole class of athletes, for society?
I don’t know who made this record. But he ended up revealing a scene, which normally no one would see, and which shows the total disrespect to who is the reason for everything to exist: the fan. And in this case a boy.
Anyway, but thanks to the Character of the Week we got to know what ended up happening. That’s why My Character of the Week is anonymous.
In time: we don’t get used to it. Anything bad can always get worse. I just found out that the São Paulo Football Federation awarded Calleri for his performance. In this way I apologize to those who have come this far. I must be evaluating in the wrong way, what is performance.
Greetings.”
*Luiz Fernando Coelho is a journalist. He has an MBA in Marketing from PUC-RJ. He worked in large companies in the marketing area. His last corporate participation was in Bradesco, having an important role in sports marketing (BCN/FINASA OSASCO Project, 2016 OLÍMPIADAS). At the Rio Games, he created CASA DO VOLEI for the International Volleyball Federation. He is a volunteer at SOU DO ESPORTE in the area of marketing planning.