“Since I got here, from the first day, they told us that against those in yellow we cannot lose and in case of losing they make you train twice as much,” Erick Lira said in November 2021, when he belonged to Pumas, in the previous of the Capital Classic between Pumas and America. The narratives in Mexican soccer, in which the rivalry between teams is exacerbated, especially for the so-called “classics”, are being restructured from the last episode of violence between bars that the La Corregidora stadium in Querétaro experienced. Both the league and the clubs seek a speech of peace and in which colors should be left behind.
“The greatest rivalry”, “the oldest rivalry”, “hate me more” or “now say it without crying” are some examples of the speech with which teams have been praised over time and through digital channels and to Mexican soccer matches. It is a marketing resource with the aim of making the product more attractive, however, fed by the media, the generation of these concepts has repercussions.
“Violence materializes in certain acts such as the one we saw exposed (on March 5 in Querétaro). However, violence has other dimensions, these are the construction of the concept of the enemy or the other that is always undervalued and then a factor that is neither the materialization nor the concept, but rather the inflaming: hostility”, said Arturo Aguirre, research professor at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla (BUAP).
The researcher on issues of violence indicated that discursive incitement is required to make “a dent in how one is going to act against the rival. We are leaving a sport that is played with the feet but is fed by the voice. From an environment of extremely complex social locution that is not from now there is a hostility that has been fed historically”.
After the incident in Querétaro and prior to the start of the “classic” matches of Mexican soccer this season, Chivas took the initiative to change “with immediate effect” the institutional narratives regarding its rivalry with other teams. In addition, together with Club América, they issued a statement in which they promoted the campaign “A Classic without colors” and, throughout the week, the images and graphics on the club’s social networks remained in black and white, avoiding exalting the colors of each institution.
This weekend, prior to the Clásico Regio, the Rayados promote the campaign #I am Peace, in which they invite their followers to participate for a jersey by uploading a photo to their social networks with a fan of another team, plus their description of what peace is in soccer; In addition, they promote the phrase “Having great respect for rivals” in their graphics.
How can you contribute to eradicate violence in football through narratives?
The researcher comments that it is a job that involves many parties. On the one hand, that television stations and the media reconsider and are self-critical about their narratives. On the other hand, that the greatest of the home promote a passion not so inflamed to the minors so that they do not fall into the undervaluation of those who recognize themselves in other teams.
“We have to find ways of not polarizing the discourses within our society and that has to do with those who emit the first verbal gestures, then with those who receive and channel them, such as parents, families, to turn this around”, said the specialist.
kg