FOUL PLAY
To paraphrase Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, ‘few things happen in SOUTH AMERICA that are not directly or indirectly related to football.’ Thus, many historical events of the 20th and 21st centuries have intersected with the most popular sport on our continent: wars, armed conflicts between various states, and regimes of exception are all part of this game. In this section, memory comes into play, for we must not forget the past, but rather learn from it.
“WE ARE HERE SO YOU REMEMBER”
When considering ‘what constitutes us as South Americans’ or ‘what unites the ten countries represented in this exhibition,’ it is impossible not to mention the shared experience of colonization. This brutal, centuries-long process involved the genocide of indigenous peoples, the abduction and enslavement of various African peoples, the expropriation of natural resources, and the persecution of non-European cultures, religions, and worldviews. As with other aspects of social life, the history of South American football is also marked by such violence, whether through racial slurs or the myth of racial democracy perpetuated through the game. In this section, which opens with a verse from the song This Is Not America by rapper Residente, we discuss these issues, which, unfortunately, remain very relevant on our continent.
On the Chaco War
The Chaco War (1932-1935) was the last major armed conflict on our continent, fought between Bolivia and Paraguay over ownership of several thousand square kilometers of land in the Chaco Boreal. The dispute resulted in the deaths of approximately 90,000 people. Hundreds of prisoners of war were forced to work on the construction of the Félix Capriles stadium in Cochabamba and the General Pablo Rojas stadium in Asunción, and Paraguay's main football stadium was renamed Defensores del Chaco four decades after Paraguay's military victory.
On the Pacific War
The Pacific War (1879–1883) saw an alliance between Bolivia and Peru fight Chile for control of the guano and saltpeter reserves in the desert zone between the three countries. Much of Chile's Norte Grande region was conquered during this brief period, including the major northern football centers of Antofagasta, Arica, Calama and Iquique, while Bolivia lost its access to the sea — a political issue that still greatly affects the country today.
On Argentina (Gate 12, hooligans, dictatorship)
Argentina suffered three military coups during the second half of the last century, leaving deep scars on its society. There was also a military adventure in a desperate attempt to regain control of the Falkland Islands from the British in 1982, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of young men. These events had a significant impact on football in Argentina, a country that had already hosted an extremely controversial World Cup in 1978.
On Chile (curtain device + Caszely video)
In the second half of 1973, Chile experienced both optimism and despair as they dreamed of Colo-Colo's unprecedented victory in the Copa Libertadores and a place in the World Cup playoffs. While the National Stadium was the setting for sporting celebrations, following the military coup on September 11 that assassinated the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, it also became a place of arrests and torture under General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, with FIFA's complicity.
On Savani's work
“We turned our fears into a ball, feinted to escape tragedies, heel-kicked misery aside, shouted our horror as if it were a goal.” As Argentine poet Carlos Ferreira says, both dictatorial regimes and social groups in South America have used soccer, some as a political tool, others as a means of venting their overflowing emotions. In Escadaria da Memória [Memory’s Starway], under the slogan “No hay Mundial para los desaparecidos” [There is no World Cup for the missing], visual artist Sabrina Savani evokes the 1978 World Cup and recovers the names of some of the soccer-related victims of Argentina's dictatorship. (1976-83).
On the tribute to black players (photo and book by Grandin) + concept of Améfrica (Lélia)
Reflecting on racism and the violent history of the Americas, Brazilian thinker Lélia Gonzalez argues in favor of the concept of 'Amefricanity', stating that "yesterday as today, Amefricans from many different countries have played a crucial role in developing this Amefricanity. In the diaspora, it identifies a common historical experience that must be properly understood and carefully researched". In this section, we pay tribute to some important Amefrican players who articulate international networks of support and resistance on and off the field. These include Isabelino Gradín, Alejandro de los Santos, Beausejour and Jaime de Almeida (who, in addition to being a player and coach, was Lélia Gonzalez's older brother).
On materialities and indigenous female fans
Since 2004, the Cumbre Continental de los Pueblos y Nacionalidades Indígenas de Abya Yala (Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities of Abya Yala) has been calling for the name 'America' to be replaced with 'Abya Yala' (a term from the Kuna people meaning 'mature land', 'living land', or 'land that flourishes'). This would break with the colonial legacy of European invasion and value the cultures and cosmologies of indigenous peoples. This section showcases uniforms, banners and iconography that convey these demands, such as the poncho worn by Ecuadorian team Mushuc Runa and the wiphala printed on the jersey of Chilean club San Marco de Arica. After all, all the pitches in this entire continent are indigenous land!
1
Mülambo
Diego, 2020
2
Mülambo
Goal Imminence Series, 2015
3
Luis Urrutia O’Nell
Colo Colo 1973: The Team That Delayed the Coup, 2013
Football Museum Library Collection
4
Sabrina Savani
Stairway of Memory, 2025
Paint on wall, composite siding, Posca pen, lambe-lambe photographs, and other materials
5
Eduardo Galeano
Soccer in the Sun and the Shadow, 2015
Football Museum Library Collection
6
Espejismo
Soccer Builds a Community with the Field, 2025
Manual collage, papercutting and three-dimensional paper techniques
7
Alonso Pahuacho Portella et al.
Friendship Without Borders: The Story of the Friendship Between Colo Colo and Alianza Lima of Peru, 2017
Football Museum Library Collection
8
Club Deportivo San Marco de Arica jersey, special edition Wiphala
Polyester fabric
9
Gavião Kyikatejê F.C. jersey
Polyester fabric
Private collection
10
Vinotinto jersey
Polyester fabric
11
Club Social y Deportivo Colo Colo’s Guarra Blanca Fan Club tank top
Polyester fabric
Private collection
12
Deportivo Paraguayo – Argentina pennant
Acrylic felt
13
Mushuc Runa Sporting Club poncho
Wool
Private collection
16
Juan Parra del Riego
Complete Poetry, 2013
Football Museum Library Collection
17
Jaime Lauriano
It Was Never Luck #2, 2023
Acrylic paint, stickers, photographic print, wooden miniatures, gold reflective adhesive tape, and prints on marine plywood
DIRTY GAME
1
Illustrated article on CD Litoral's 3-1 victory over CS Emelec in the 1948 South American Champions Cup. Caparelli was top scorer of the game and the competition (7 goals).
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Player Carlos Saucedo recalls the goal he scored against Chile in 2014 and the meaning of his celebration – he "swam" in reference to the sea and Bolivia's historical claim.
3
The fight between rival fans during the match between England and Argentina at the 1986 World Cup was politically motivated and related to the Falklands War. Azteca Stadium, Mexico City, June 22nd, 1986.
4
Front page of Clarín newspaper with the aftermath of the Gate 12 tragedy, after a classic match between CA River Plate and CA Boca Juniors at the Monumental Stadium. Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 24th, 1968.
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The number of shoes piled up at the site shows the scale of the tragedy. Monumental Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1968.
2
The site of the tragedy or "la puerta del horror" (the door of horror), according to El Gráfico magazine. Monumental Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1968.
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An illustrated article by O Cruzeiro magazine features accounts from a fan and points to poor lighting and closed gates as the reasons for the Gate 12 Tragedy.
4
In 1981, during the Argentine military dictatorship, 49 CA Nueva Chicago fans were arrested for singing a song that was banned at the time, related to Peronism.
5
An article on the fight between Argentine and English fans at the 1986 World Cup highlights the numerical disproportion between them and the belligerent nature of the hermanos.
10
Illustration of the proximity between the Monumental Stadium, the main venue of the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, and the Navy Mechanics School (ESMA), the largest clandestine detention and torture center of the Argentine military dictatorship, which was ongoing at the time.
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Illustration denouncing human rights violations by the military dictatorship in Argentina using the official poster of the 1978 World Cup.
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Caption to come
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Army soldier in the foreground and protesters arrested at the National Stadium in the background, days after the military coup led by Augusto Pinochet. Santiago, Chile, Sept. 22nd, 1973.
14
Olga Garrido, kidnapped and tortured during the Chilean dictatorship, and her son, soccer player Carlos Caszely, participate in the "no" campaign during the 1988 plebiscite that decided whether Pinochet should remain in power.
15
Open letter from Club The Strongest to its fans explaining why the sports institution offered its contingent to defend their homeland.
16
Record made in 1933 of a visit of a Red Cross delegate to Paraguayan prisoners during the Chaco War (1932-1935), which pitted Bolivia against Paraguay.
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Article on a soccer match in Bolivia, when police stormed the field to arrest players and fans in order to send them to the front lines in Chaco. Jornal do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1933.
01
Aurelio González was a Paraguayan soccer player and coach, top scorer in the 1929 South American Championship, and idol of Club Olimpia and the Paraguayan national team. He was known as "Gran Capitán."[Great capitan].
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Aurelio González even interrupted his soccer career to fight in the Chaco War.
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Arsenio Erico is considered the best Paraguayan player in history and, to this day, the top scorer in the Argentine Championship, with 296 goals. During the Chaco War, he played for the Red Cross team in charity matches.
04
A cartoon by Piem published in Pasquim magazine during the 1978 World Cup, held in Argentina during the military dictatorship, satirizes the regime's violence.
05
Bolivian prisoners at a port on the Paraguay River. Chaco, Paraguay, 1934.
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During the Chaco War, the then La Liga Stadium was used as a recruitment base for the Paraguayan Army and as a concentration camp for Bolivian prisoners. In 1974, the stadium was renamed Defensores del Chaco.
SUBSECTION: WE ARE HERE TO REMIND YOU
This special edition by El Gráfico on Alejandro de los Santos features a headline typical of the time and reveals the racial tensions in the country. Buenos Aires, Argentina, [1930-1950].
Jaime de Almeida, Lélia Gonzales’ brother, received the Belfort Duarte Award, given to players who went ten years without being sent off from a match, after at least 200 official matches.
Mini biographies of six Brazilian athletes who competed in the 1950 World Cup. From left to right, top to bottom: Bigode, Alfredo, Brandãozinho, Tesourinha, Friaça, and Zizinho.
01
In a Chilean national team match, Jean Beausejour uses his Mapuche surname, Coliqueo, to pay tribute to Camilo Catrillanca, an indigenous activist of the same ethnicity who was murdered by the police. Temuco, Chile, Nov. 20th, 2018.
02
The Argentine national team that won the 1925 South American Championship included Alejandro de los Santos, the second from left to right in a crouching position. In the decisive match, the Brazilians were once again racially insulted by the local fans.
03
Isabelino Gradín was a prominent Uruguayan player, two-time South American champion for La Celeste in 1916-1917. His excellence, including in Brazil in 1919, inspired black boys to play soccer and dream of being the best.
04
Portrait of Alejandro de los Santos when he played for CA Huracán in the 1930s. He is considered the first black player in the Argentine national team.
05
Gradín also excelled in track and field matches. He ran for CA Olimpia and set five South American records in the 200, 400, and 4 x 400 meters.
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Roberta Estrela d’Alva and Fernando Coster
Fallen Hero, 2014
Video
Duration: 14 min. 17 sec.
07
Frente 3 de Febrero
Flags, 2005
Video
Duration: 6 min. 55 sec.
7
A newspaper highlights the work done by Brazilian coach Jaime de Almeida under Peruvian club Alianza Lima.
10
“Macaquitos”[Little monkeys] is Brazilian writer Lima Barreto’s response to the Argentine chronicle “Monos en Buenos Aires”[Monkeys in Buenos Aires], which portrayed Brazilian soccer players as monkeys, including a derogatory cartoon.
11
"Negros africanos y hombres pagados" [African blacks and paid men]. Under this racist and classist allegation, Chile protested and unsuccessfully attempted to challenge its 4-0 defeat to Uruguay in the 1916 South American Championship, with two goals scored by Gradín.