Brazil’s football system is fundamentally “broken”, plagued by a profound lack of transparency and accountability that is directly reflected in the national team’s performance, according to Kely Nascimento, the activist filmmaker and eldest daughter of the legendary Pele.
“Brazilian football is broken. Whether it is corruption … it’s like a closed, very incestuous ecosystem where no one can see inside, and everybody knows why it is not working, but nobody can fix it,” Nascimento told Reuters in an interview.
She highlighted that while the nation continues to produce an abundance of top-tier talent, their struggles on the international stage are symptomatic of deeper, systemic issues within the sport’s administration.
This comes after Brazil’s recent elimination from this year’s World Cup following a 2-1 defeat by Norway on Sunday, marking the first time they have failed to reach the quarter-finals since 1990. The country last lifted the trophy in 2002, securing their record fifth World Cup title.
Nascimento revealed that her late father had long expressed concerns about the state of Brazilian football, drawing a stark contrast between the country’s decline and the more effective systems seemingly built by nations such as France.
However, she pointed to one encouraging development: the revitalisation of traditional clubs through foreign investment.
She cited the resurgence of Botafogo under US businessman John Textor, who has overseen a steady turnaround for the former Brazilian champions since acquiring a controlling stake in the Rio de Janeiro club in 2022.
“There’s a lot of criticism about how he’s handling it, but, again, there’s good and bad to everything,” Nascimento acknowledged.
“What he’s also bringing is transparency… he has accountability to a foreign body. To me, that’s a positive, regardless of everything he’s being blamed for.”
Brazil failed to convince at this year’s World Cup, with Carlo Ancelotti unable to find the solutions to allow his team to flourish in North America.
After drawing their opening game 1-1 with Morocco, Brazil showed signs of improvement to secure successive 3-0 wins against Haiti and Scotland respectively.
However, they needed a stoppage-time winner to edge past Japan in the last-32, and were then unable to handle Erling Haaland in the round of 16, with the Manchester City striker scoring a brace to dump Brazil out of the tournament.
