Opinion – Marcelo Damato: Silas Malafaia for president of CBF

What a scare, huh?

But the matter is serious.

I’m not from Malafaia’s gang. I do not share your worldview, nor do I generally agree with your positions. And finally, I am not an evangelical.

But it is undeniable that the bishop, like many pastors, is an excellent communicator. For decades, these preachers have been doing a consistent job of attracting believers, based on the power of the word. If the word is really from God or from themselves, it doesn’t matter here.

What does this have to do with the CBF and Brazilian football? Quite.

Football has many points in common with a religion. Without detracting from the management and beauty of the game, common to many sports, its strength depends on the belief that this sport represents something superior, above men.

What was seen in Buenos Aires, at the celebration of the Argentine tri, is an unquestionable proof. Five million people don’t come together without a very strong common belief.

In Brazil, you don’t see the same strength of the word of the “god” Soccer. Here, it is the results that dictate the mood of the crowd. Most fans act like consumers, demanding victory and spectacle in exchange for the money spent. Football is not opera.

In the World Cup, this attitude gets worse. In 2014, the intensity of boos against the national team reverberated around the world. Football is not a refrigerator either.

Think about religion again. Can you imagine a devotee demanding results from his god for his life and, if not, booing him or dismissing him?

Of course, the strength of faith depends on results. But true fans are always with the team and demand only commitment. Brazil needs to relearn how to act like this.

The construction of this link, this feeling of belonging, does not depend only on the supporters. It is very much the fruit of the action of pastors and bishops, who in this case are players, technicians and top hats.

Here managers are branded as dishonest and players as negligent. Is that what really matters?

Are the most popular leaders those who are perceived as the most honest or those who have the most charisma? If off-pitch behavior were the measure of popularity, Kaká would be as revered as Pelé.

On the other hand, what about Maradona? Was it ever an example? His titles and exhibitions were essential, but it is the power of the word that explains why the fans did not abandon him even in the most “police” moments of his life. What other explanation can there be for the fact that Maradona is much more adored in Argentina than Pelé is in Brazil?

On the other hand, the managers and part of the Brazilian players seem to say: I want to do my job in peace.

Football players are not engineers who develop smartphones. Likewise, the directors are not just the finance department. Delivering results is fundamental to the work, but this is the short-term goal.

What holds an even more powerful future for each club and for the whole is to keep supporters with faith in what is to come. Communication and faith are the difference between playing in the World Cup and playing in the firm’s soccer game.

And even for a product as impersonal as a cell phone, the impact of a preacher as capable as Steve Jobs made that device a new god for years to come.

Those who should command football are football professionals. But it is important to recognize that evangelicals have something to teach about how to strengthen the bond between fans, players and officials.