Brazil. Floods and football
Update #2
The latest BBC News report on the floods in Brazil shares several stories from people in the Rio Grande do Sul region who have been directly affected. It also says at least 85 people have died and about 150,000 people displaced. New video drone footage from The Guardian gives a further insight to the extent of the floods (and includes the Estádio Beira-Rio in it). It says that across the region an estimated 1.3 million people have been affected.
Reuters reports that the Brazilian President is seeking a state of emergency. The same news report also notes that further rains are forecast. The World Meteorological Organization has said “There is no immediate respite in sight” and that “The disaster in Brazil – and ongoing flooding in East Africa - highlight the need for a more integrated response to El Niño and climate change impacts”.
Vinicius Junior, Neymar, Endrick, Danilo and many more have recorded messages for the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) to support donations for victims of the flooding.
Clubs in Rio Grande do Sul
Grêmio, Sport Club Internacional, Esporte Clube Juventude, Série A clubs based in Rio Grande do Sul, are continuing to support response efforts.
This includes through the use of their communication channels and infrastructure, as well as the participation of staff and players. Regular updates are being provided through their social media channels in the above links. Recent developments include:
Esporte Clube Juventude saying that the floods are “the biggest environmental disaster in the history of Rio Grande do Sul”.
Grêmio thanking clubs in the state of Goiás for their support: “Together we are stronger! 💙🇪🇪 There is no rivalry when solidarity is at stake.”
Sport Club Internacional goalkeeper Fabrício helping with work for the distribution of lunch boxes and medicines to the homeless, and forward, Enner Valencia visiting a local neighborhood to make donations.
Arena do Grêmio, after serving as a shelter for more than 500 people, having to be vacated due to a lack of electricity and water, with help from the military
Other Clubs
Other Brazillian clubs have been showing support in a variety of ways:
Flamengo, Palmeiras and São Paulo have issued a joint statement offering facilities to clubs in Rio Grande Do Sul, as have Corinthians who have also issued a statement in solidarity with the people of Rio Grande do Sul.
Vasco Da Gama have supported a proposal for a benefit gig at their stadium made by musician, Lil Whind (who has 27.5m followers). The club says it will also carry out further actions in the coming days.
Palmeiras will “allocate all net proceeds from the game against Athletico-PR to the victims of the environmental disaster.”
Flamengo’s next game will see them enter the field with their kit sporting a prominent picture for donations in the place of the master sponsor. Also, Flamengo Women’s goalkeeper Barbieri paid tribute to Rio Grande do Sul before their latest game.
Joint Série B leaders, Sport Club do Recife will allocate part of the proceeds from the game against Brusque to victims of the floods.
Atlético and Cruzeiro players will put up for auction match-worn shirts.
Other clubs helping with donations include Athletico Paranaense, Bahia, Criciúma, and Fluminense.
Fixtures
Santos midfielder Giuliano is reported as saying: "What is the price of a life? Does a goal pay the price of a life? Does the full stadium and the other people suffering there (in Rio Grande do Sul) pay? It's a moment of reflection. The Brazilian people love football, but to what extent is it worth continuing football and letting people suffer? We have to be supportive."
The CBF have now confirmed that all games involving clubs from Rio Grande do Sul that were scheduled to take place up to 27th May will be postponed. According to one report CONMEBOL games scheduled for 15th May have also been postponed (in addition to postponements already announced for 8th May).
This comes after reports that the Presidents of both Internacional and Grêmio had been speaking to counterparts at other clubs in the Série A league asking “for the competition to be completely suspended for a few rounds”.
Separately, in response to proposals for a complete suspension, the President of Athletico is reported in this article as saying "Impossible. In addition to harming all clubs, we have no dates available." Elsewhere, a lack of consensus among clubs is noted.
The same Itatiaia article above also notes the potential calendar impacts on CONMEBOL and FIFA organised tournaments and says that one option being studied is for the clubs to play elsewhere. However, in a separate report it is said that Grêmio, Internacional and Juventude do not want and will not leave Rio Grande do Sul and train elsewhere. A source is quoted as saying “it is not good form to abandon your people at this time.” Further reasons not to move have been set out here.
The situation on the future of the football calendar still seems fluid at the moment. We may see further developments over the coming days.
In other news …
Neymar is reported to have sent a plane with 2 tons of supplies in addition to sending his personal helicopter to help with rescues.
Former Premier League player Diego Costa, who now plays for Grêmio, has helped rescue 100 stranded people from the floods.
Grêmio coach, Renato Gaúcho, had to be rescued from his hotel having been out of contact for two days.
Housekeeping
The previous newsletter on the Brazil floods and football is here.
Just as I was finishing this post off, the bid evaluation was issued for the Women’s World Cup 2027 ahead of a FIFA Congress vote next week on hosting. I’ve only had a chance to scan it so far and note that the Brazil bid scores higher than the European one. A previous post has looked at the bids and noted that while both stated basic climate information, neither addressed potential extreme weather risks.
Most of the information here is provided using online translation tools which affect their accuracy.
For more regular updates please follow the sources in the links. The Football and Climate Change Newsletter social media account is also endeavouring to repost developments.
Further emails to your inbox on the latest developments in Brazil may follow as and when.
Fran James (he/him)
Football and Climate Change Newsletter
footballandclimatechange@gmail.com
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Thank you for covering this, Fran! I will add it to my newsletter that is going out tonight about the topic. It's so sad to see so little of the international traditional and social media covering this issue.