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Footloose
Jan 20th 2005 | SÃO PAULO
From The Economist print edition
A growing export trade in soccer players
AFP
MANY Brazilians resent the fact that their country is often known abroad
only for samba and football. Yet while its booming exports range from iron
ore to aircraft, they also include footballers. Since the early 1990s, the
number of players leaving the country to play for clubs abroad each year
has risen from 130 to 850, making Brazil the world's biggest exporter of
footballers.
Sadly, export success reflects domestic decay. Last year, an average match
in the national championship attracted fewer than 8,000 supporters
(compared with 35,000 in Britain's Premier League). One problem is corrupt
club management: a Senate inquiry in 2001 found widespread tax evasion and
money laundering.
Without professional management, clubs find it hard to pay top wages and
players struggle to attract commercial endorsements. Manchester United and
Real Madrid (with a Brazilian coach and stars) are global brands. But not
since Pelé's Santos in the 1960s has a Brazilian club achieved
international fame. Even in the 1980s, heroes such as Zico and Socrates
went abroad only after long campaigns for local clubs. Today's stars, such
as Ronaldinho Gaucho (pictured), had the briefest of club careers in
Brazil before signing for European teams.
Now journeymen are following the stars to Europe. Of last year's exodus,
some 200 went to Portugal, mostly to play in the lower divisions but on
higher wages than at home. Less obviously, 25 went to Indonesia, while
others now ply their trade on football fields from Armenia to Vietnam and
Iceland to India. According to Luiz Fernando Sant'Anna, a São Paulo lawyer
who specialises in football deals, a growing number are snapped up from
youth teams and make their professional debuts outside Brazil.
Brazilian players cost European clubs less than local footballers of
equivalent talent. Many fail to adapt to the change in climate and
language. Some do and never return: Tunisia's squad at the 2002 World Cup
included a naturalised Brazilian. He is an exception. According to the
Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), Brazil imported 499 players last
year. Nearly all were ageing returnees.
Luiz Gustavo Vieira de Castro, a director of the CBF, blames the exodus on
the salary gap rather than poor management. Maybe so. A few clubs are
better-run than in the past. In December, Corinthians of São Paulo, which
has formed a partnership with MSI, a mysterious British firm which many
think is backed by Russian-oligarch money, bucked the trend. It outbid
European rivals to sign Carlos Tevez, a young Argentine star, for $20m.
But already this year, 76 Brazilian players have moved abroad.
--
The Brazilian Man
Footloose
Jan 20th 2005 | SÃO PAULO
From The Economist print edition
A growing export trade in soccer players
AFP
MANY Brazilians resent the fact that their country is often known abroad
only for samba and football. Yet while its booming exports range from iron
ore to aircraft, they also include footballers. Since the early 1990s, the
number of players leaving the country to play for clubs abroad each year
has risen from 130 to 850, making Brazil the world's biggest exporter of
footballers.
Sadly, export success reflects domestic decay. Last year, an average match
in the national championship attracted fewer than 8,000 supporters
(compared with 35,000 in Britain's Premier League). One problem is corrupt
club management: a Senate inquiry in 2001 found widespread tax evasion and
money laundering.
Without professional management, clubs find it hard to pay top wages and
players struggle to attract commercial endorsements. Manchester United and
Real Madrid (with a Brazilian coach and stars) are global brands. But not
since Pelé's Santos in the 1960s has a Brazilian club achieved
international fame. Even in the 1980s, heroes such as Zico and Socrates
went abroad only after long campaigns for local clubs. Today's stars, such
as Ronaldinho Gaucho (pictured), had the briefest of club careers in
Brazil before signing for European teams.
Now journeymen are following the stars to Europe. Of last year's exodus,
some 200 went to Portugal, mostly to play in the lower divisions but on
higher wages than at home. Less obviously, 25 went to Indonesia, while
others now ply their trade on football fields from Armenia to Vietnam and
Iceland to India. According to Luiz Fernando Sant'Anna, a São Paulo lawyer
who specialises in football deals, a growing number are snapped up from
youth teams and make their professional debuts outside Brazil.
Brazilian players cost European clubs less than local footballers of
equivalent talent. Many fail to adapt to the change in climate and
language. Some do and never return: Tunisia's squad at the 2002 World Cup
included a naturalised Brazilian. He is an exception. According to the
Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), Brazil imported 499 players last
year. Nearly all were ageing returnees.
Luiz Gustavo Vieira de Castro, a director of the CBF, blames the exodus on
the salary gap rather than poor management. Maybe so. A few clubs are
better-run than in the past. In December, Corinthians of São Paulo, which
has formed a partnership with MSI, a mysterious British firm which many
think is backed by Russian-oligarch money, bucked the trend. It outbid
European rivals to sign Carlos Tevez, a young Argentine star, for $20m.
But already this year, 76 Brazilian players have moved abroad.
--
The Brazilian Man
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