Brazil’s football system is broken, says Pele’s daughter
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Kely Nascimento, activist filmmaker and eldest daughter of former Brazil great Pele, believes there is a lack of transparency and accountability in the nation’s football administration.
PHOTO: REUTERS
TORONTO – Brazil’s football system is broken, with a lack of transparency and accountability in its administration reflected in the national team’s performances, Kely Nascimento, activist filmmaker and eldest daughter of the late Brazil great Pele, told Reuters in an interview.
“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 said.
She said the country’s wealth of talent continues to produce top players, but that their struggles on the international stage were symptomatic of deeper structural problems.
Brazil were eliminated from the World Cup following a 2-1 defeat by Norway on July 5, the first time they have failed to reach the quarter-finals since 1990. They won the last of their record five World Cups in 2002.
Nascimento said her late father had long voiced concerns about the state of Brazilian football and contrasted the country’s decline with nations such as France, which she said appeared to have built more effective systems.
One encouraging development, she said, was the revival of traditional clubs through foreign investment, citing Botafogo’s resurgence under US businessman John Textor.
Since acquiring a controlling stake in the Rio de Janeiro club in 2022, Textor has overseen a steady turnaround in the fortunes of the former Brazilian champions.
“There’s a lot of criticism about how he’s handling it, but, again, there’s good and bad to everything,” Nascimento said.
“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.”
For another one of Brazil’s former World Cup-winning strikers, the blame for their early exit can be placed squarely at the Selecao’s Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti.
“He cannot continue as Brazil coach, absolutely not,” Romario, who won the Golden Ball when Brazil lifted the 1994 World Cup and is now senator for Rio de Janeiro, said in a social media clip.
“If I were running the Brazilian Football Confederation, I would have gone into the dressing room, dismissed him and terminated his contract on the spot. The match against Norway was a disgrace.”
On local media, the 60-year-old added: “If he were a Brazilian coach, they would already have torn him apart. But because he’s a foreigner, nobody says a word.” REUTERS