Athletes Should Follow Sócrates' Example of Radical Political Engagement in Sports
Source: Hamza Shehryar. "Sócrates Showed Us the Best Way to Bring Politics Into Sports." February 19, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
The author argues that famous athletes should stop making empty political gestures and instead follow the example of Brazilian footballer Sócrates, who used his platform to fight dictatorship through real organizational change. Sports are already political, so athletes should embrace radical activism rather than pretend to be neutral.
Conclusion
Football players and athletes should channel Sócrates' spirit of radical political activism, rejecting the myth of neutrality and using their platforms for structural political change rather than empty symbolic gestures
Premises
- Sports are inherently political because they are embedded in power structures of nationalism, capital, and imperial spectacle
- Sócrates demonstrated effective political activism through Democracia Corinthiana, which redistributed decision-making power and created institutional change within football
- The current approach of 'speaking out' through symbolic gestures is ineffective because it reduces politics to performance rather than addressing structural issues
- Sports institutions selectively allow politics that support power while demanding silence from those who might resist the prevailing order
- The upcoming US-hosted World Cup represents a particularly urgent moment requiring political resistance, as it will serve as Trumpian propaganda
- Silence from athletes is not neutrality but complicity with existing power structures
- Modern athlete activism is co-opted and managed by sponsors and agents, making it ineffective for real change
Assumptions
- Athletes have significant social power and responsibility to use their platforms politically
- Structural political action is more effective than symbolic gestures
- The current political moment (Trump's rise, US imperialism) requires urgent resistance
- Sports institutions and corporate interests actively suppress meaningful political dissent
- Sócrates' model of collective, democratic organizing can be applied to contemporary sports