"Everything Has a Limit and Brazilian Soccer Has Reached Its Limit," Says Former Striker and Current Senator Romário

07/27/2015 - 10h28

In the basement of a wing in the federal senate, door number 11 leads to the office of a former player for the Brazilian national soccer team who wore jersey number 11 - he has changed the uniform for a suit and tie.

"This is a shitty generation. All we've got is Neymar, Neymar and Neymar," says Romário, 49, about the young players who occupy the position which once was his.

When asked if he would call himself when he was 23 years old and playing in the Netherlands, or Neymar, also 23, at his current moment, the senator doesn't hesitate in his answer: "Romário at the age of 23 was the man."

The scenario is different, but Romário in the senate is a lot like the former striker. "I didn't like having the lead role," he says. "I loved having the lead role. It will always be like that for me."

After being a star in soccer for more than 20 years, having scored over 1,000 goals (according to his unusual figures), winning the 1994 World Cup for Brazil and many other titles for teams such as Barcelona, Vasco and Flamengo, Romário retired from soccer in 2008 and decided to pursue a career in Brasilia.

In 2010 he was elected congressman for the PSB and made his debut in the senate this year. "Romário is no longer a former soccer player, he is now a senator of the republic."

The famous baixinho ("shrimp"), just 1.67 meters tall, now prefers to be called senator and has recently been elected the president of the Soccer Parliamentary Commission of Investigation (CPI) created to, according to Romário himself, "moralize Brazilian soccer."

He received Folha's news report team with a handshake and a gloomy look in the office whose number was chosen by himself - there is a picture of him next to his youngest child for whom he has special affection: Ivy, 10, who has Down syndrome.

There is also a flag of his favorite team, América, of Rio de Janeiro, and a replica of the World Cup trophy in his office, whose entrance is guarded by his good-looking female advisors.

Romário planned the Parliamentary Commission of Investigation at the end of May after the arrest of the former president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), José Maria Marin, in Switzerland, amid a corruption scheme scandal in Fifa, the world's governing body of soccer.

The commission began on July 14, the day Folha's news team met with Romário and two days before the parliamentary recess.

"The most important event occurred today, pal," said Romário, using one of his best known expressions for the first and only time in the interview." "Now we must get to work."

An article published in Veja magazine on Saturday July 25 accused Romário of having a secret account in a Swiss bank with a balance of some US$ 2.2 million (R$ 7.5 million).

On Facebook, Romário addressed the article ironically and threatened to go to court against the magazine. "As I played for so many teams abroad, it is possible that there might be some money left which could amount to that," he wrote. "I'm feeling like I won the lottery, but the money came from my honest, hard work."

Romário has promised to get some people arrested with the Soccer CPI - such as the president of the CBF, Marco Polo Del Nero, who Romário called "dirty, a thief and a crook" and allegedly was cited in a report by the U.S. Department of Justice on the corruption scheme in Fifa as a "co-conspirator," and Ricardo Teixeira, the former head of the CBF, also cited by the American Department of Justice and indicted by the Brazilian Federal Police for money laundering and criminal misrepresentation.

"Everything has a limit. And Brazilian soccer has reached its limit. It's time for us to reorganize, reform and moralize it all."

Romário's initiative is seen with distrust by some sectors in the soccer world. Bom Senso F.C, a movement created by players to fight for better conditions in Brazilian soccer, was not very excited about the new CPI. They fear investigations may lose their focus or produce no results.

Those who are in favor of a reform in Brazilian soccer weren't excited about the 11 senators chosen to comprise the commission, either.

Two of the politicians, for example, are being investigated in the Federal Police's Lava Jato operation: former president Fernando Collor (PTB-AL) and the CPI's rapporteur, Romero Jucá (PMDB-RR).

Romário stands up for the team and says: "Regardless of the problems Senator Juca is having now, he has told me that he really wants to improve Brazilian soccer with this CPI."

But Romário also promises to innovate as the president of the commission: "The rapporteur will present his report and I will present mine. I don't have any shady connections with anyone." The president of a CPI may produce his own report, although it is unusual for him to do so.

Since he began working in the senate, at the beginning of this year, Romário has grown there. He is the president of the Commission for Education, Culture and Sports and was the rapporteur of two important laws: the Handicapped Estatute, which guarantees important rights such as the payment of inclusion aids for the employed handicapped - one of Romario's biggest platforms - and the Biography Act.

"When I was elected congressman, most people disapproved of me," he says. "Ninety-five percent of the other congressmen thought I would do nothing during the following four years. I was one of those who they call 'little celebrities'".

"I studied political science for eight months, nobody can say that I was unprepared when I began working here," says Romário, who took private classes with Leonardo Petronilha, who has a PhD in political science.

Romário's agenda is different from that of other senators. He has a fixed daily schedule just to sign jerseys and objects sent to his office. Employees at the senate often approach him to take pictures with him.

At the congress, one of his fellow congressmen used to take guests visiting from his home state to meet Romário every week.

On the two days that Folha's team followed Romário in the senate, he arrived at 2:00 pm. On the first day, he participated in the opening ceremony of the CPI.

On the other, after taking part in a closed meeting on changes in the spelling accord, Romário led a meeting with the Education Committee - which was cancelled due to an insufficient number of participants.

Romario summarizes his political routine: "I am in Brasilia on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and I leave on Friday. I arrive in Rio and go straight to my office, where I stay until the end of the day. On weekends, I travel to reassemble the PSB in Rio de Janeiro state. And Mondays are for political conversations."

Romário unloads briefly: "When I retired from soccer, I thought I would lead an easy life. But the truth is that this is a freakin' jungle," he says jokingly. He says, however, that he doesn't regret his decision. "A politician's life is exhausting but I like it. I think it is cool."

It is hard to get a compliment to another congressman from Romário. "I have never had any influence in politics. The person who influenced me most was Ivy," he says
about the daughter who led him to his new profession, as he says. His interest as a father made him dive into the subject of disability.

Romário has been used to the life of a star since he was seen as a whiz kid player for Vasco team at the age of 19 - and has always been individualistic and a hothead.

He even slapped a teammate on the field and, in the Netherlands, asked a translator to explain the insults to the doctors of PSV, the team he was playing for at the time.

Very little has changed since the times of PSV to those of the PSB. In August 2013, when he was still a congressman, he locked horns with the directors of his party.

"I didn't agree with their votes," he says. At the time, the PSB was an ally of the PT's government. Romário left the PSB and negotiated to become a member of another party.

"Eduardo Campos [then governor of Pernambuco and the president of the PSB] asked me to return and become president of the party in Rio," he says.

"I accepted, but I was the queen of England for a few months. During the directors' meeting, comprised of seven people, I would always lose 6-1. They forged my signature in checks. When they scheduled meetings, they were held - but not when I scheduled them."

After Campos's death in August 2014, and the high number of votes he received in his election to the senate (more than 4.6 million. He was elected with the third largest number of votes in the country), the scenario has changed for him inside the PSB. "I have become an actual president," he says.

A recent survey showed Romário as the runner up in intended votes for the mayor of Rio de Janeiro. Although he hasn't announced his candidacy officially, he is excited about running for mayor. "The most charming political position in Brazil today is mayor of Rio," he says. "And yes, I would like to have the position."

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

Read the article in the original language

	Ed Ferreira-28.mai.2015/Folhapress
	Former player and senator Romario