Socrates' democratic legacy

Socrates, one of the greatest Brazilian soccer players ever, who passed away last week, will be remembered for many reasons. Some will remember his elegance, leadership and charisma on the field, and perhaps also his attractive back-heel passes and accurate kicks.

Some will actually remember the star, whose full name was Socrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira, as one of the greatest losers in history - the captain of the best team that didn't win the World Cup, Brazil 1982 - or perhaps the greatest Brazilian player of all time who retired without a World Cup. And many others will probably remember the unusual figure he was off the playing field, the likes of which no longer exists and will never exist in soccer: a doctor by training, an autodidact, a socialist and a bohemian who drank and smoked - until he died as a consequence of those habits at the age of 57.

But the truth is that if there is anything for which this great player should be remembered, particularly in present-day Israel, it's the daring and fascinating sociopolitical experiment that Socrates initiated at the height of the period of Brazilian dictatorship in the early 1980s: Socrates led the players and employees of the great Corinthians team from Sao Paulo to rebel against the tyrannical and oppressive management that was typical of Brazilian soccer at the time, and spearheaded a transition to democratic self-management of the club.

Nowadays that is likely to sound like just another revolt by frustrated soccer players, but at the time, during the period of military dictatorship, it was a daring and unprecedented step that challenged the worldview and the delicate social fabric of all of Brazilian society.

Under his leadership, the players and other club employees voted on every daily activity and issue relating to the team. Everyone had a right to vote and an equal voice - from the president of the club right to the major stars, down to and including the locker-room manager.

The height of the protest took place in 1982, a few months after that sad World Cup and a few days before the dictatorship's first multiparty elections. That dictatorship had ruled the huge country from 1964, but its power had begun to wane in the early 1980s. Its leaders had already promised to begin a process of democratization, but opponents from within the army carried out a series of attacks to undermine the stability and power of the police and to halt that process.

A few days before the elections, the esteemed Corinthians players went out on the field with the slogan "Vote on the 15th" printed on their backs. The message to the fans was clear: Go out and vote, restore the power to the people and defy the dictatorship, just as we players have defied tradition in our club. Such an unequivocal cry coming from the idols of the masses was unprecedented in its impact and daring. While popular musicians who opposed the regime fled to exile (or were expelled), Socrates and his team expressed their protest in the most defiant and convincing way.

At the end of that year the Corinthians won the Sao Paulo championship, with the word "Democracy" emblazoned on their shirts. Socrates' initiative was dubbed "the Corinthians' democracy movement," and to this day is considered one of the factors that led to the final downfall of the dictatorship.

One devoted fan of the club during those days, an energetic union activist named Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva, eventually became the proactive president who turned Brazil into a world economic power.

Socrates' democratic legacy is more relevant than ever and far more powerful than his sports career. The struggle for democracy and equality is not only a matter for politicians and intellectuals: It's an essential part of everyday life and involves all of us. If we implement it in our own surroundings and are not afraid to talk about it out loud - the change will come soon. Anyone who thinks that a threat to democracy or individual rights on the national level has nothing to do with him on the personal level is likely to wake up too late, and discover that it it has come to his own private playing field.

Edan Ring is a spokesperson and media consultant for human rights and social change NGOs.

Read this story in Hebrew.