‘I’m black, bald and gay asking for more respect’, says ex-pivot Marta

Marta Sobral, 58, proudly says she has built a deep connection with basketball.

A pioneer of a family with a famous surname in the sport – sisters Márcia and Leila and nephew Jeferson Sobral also played professionally –, she was part of the best female generation in the sport in the country.

Alongside Hortência, Paula and Janeth, he was a medalist in three Pan American Games, the most important of them in Havana-1991, when he received the gold medal from Fidel Castro.

At the Olympic Games he took silver in Atlanta-1996 and bronze in Sydney-2000. He only ended up being left out of the biggest achievement, the 1994 World Cup, due to an emergency operation to remove a fibroid.

The former pivot now decided to expose situations that go far beyond the courts and the sport that took her from the outskirts of São Paulo to transform the family’s reality.

In a recent interview with the Clube da Vip channel on YouTube, she revealed that she has always experienced clear differences regarding the treatment given to former companions such as Paula and Hortência.

“I always knew that Paula and Hortência, and it’s not discrediting because they made their contract, earned a lot of money. I used to make my contract, I thought that what I was receiving was enough to support my family. I never earned in dollars, they won a few times,” he said last month.

“What did you say there? [na entrevista] I repeat without any problem. in my time [como jogadora] I earned less because I made my contracts myself. It’s not like today, they didn’t have agents”, Marta tells Sheet.

“Paula and Hortência were the best in the world and they needed to be valued, of course. They attracted sponsors for the teams, too, we can’t forget that. I brought it up now, years later, because they only asked me now”, he adds.

Her long career in the sport, where she played for more than 12 teams, two of them from the United States (in the extinct American Basketball League), today makes her strange.

Marta says she only had help with her first club change, when she left the team financed by Pirelli, in Santo André, to go to Sorocaba.

At the time, technician Laís Elena (1943-2019) accompanied her to help her in the negotiations. Upon leaving the meeting, she advised the ward to close as the values ​​were considerably better.

“White women always earn more. We suffer twice: for being black and for being a woman. I’m here, now, to fight for that. We have to earn like men, too. Why are we getting less?”, she asks.

Even after the statements, she spoke with her former companions recently, but they did not touch on the subject of the interview. With Hortência, she exchanged quick messages on her cell phone. And with Paula she spoke on the phone on her birthday, March 11th.

“It’s all in the face, it’s nothing with them or against them. They’re my friends. But why have they equaled awards in women’s football only now? We suffered several times for being a woman, for being black. I had the opportunity to say it before,” he says.

“I talk more about black women, of course, because that’s exactly what I am. In fact, I’m black, bald and gay asking for more respect”, he adds.

She says she has not yet spoken publicly about her sexual orientation. She never hid it, but she never felt open to coming out publicly.

“It was never veiled, everyone knew, but no one ever asked me. At that moment I said, I think it’s appropriate. I’m really black, I love my color, and I’m gay”, he explains.

The speeches also inspired the launch of a collective election for the candidacy for state deputy. She recently joined the Workers’ Party (PT) and wants to help break down prejudices in the sport.

“I never got into politics as an athlete, but I feel like I need to fight for it now. It’s not just racism, at the CBB (Brazilian Basketball Confederation) they recently hired Adrianinha to direct the under-18 team. There’s Paula on the board , too, but we need a lot more”, he explains.

In the first attempt in the political environment, as a councilor for Patriota, in the municipal elections in Santo André, in 2020, the campaign foundered with only 96 votes. She was also sports secretary in the administration of former mayor Carlos Grana (PT) between 2013 and 2016.

Currently, Marta has a schedule full of motivational speeches. She still doesn’t know if she will get the support of former colleagues for the candidacy, but she dreams of help.

In the last year, Hortência and Paula’s sports life and trajectory began to be documented in a film that should be released this year, directed by Georgia Guerra, with an investment of almost R$ 7 million.