Brazil’s president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on Thursday called on the population to wear «with great pride» the jersey of the national soccer team, despite the fact that in recent times it has become an element more typical of supporters of the outgoing president, Jair Bolsonaro.
In a message posted on his Instagram profile, Lula said that the jersey, which brings together the colors of the Brazilian flag, «represents 215 million Brazilians». «Let’s cheer together for Brazil,» he added shortly before the debut of the ‘canarinha’ in the World Cup in Qatar.
Lula has thus tried to put an end to a trend that has been seen in recent years, when Bolsonaro’s supporters and sympathizers have worn the national jersey to attend both protests against previous governments and marches in support of the far-right leader.
However, shortly before Brazil went to the polls for the second round of the presidential elections, Lula already tried to disassociate the national team jersey with the «extremist ideology» and also encouraged his supporters to wear the ‘canarinha’ jersey because Bolsonaro did not have «exclusivity» over the national symbols.
