Women's football in Brazil : what was reported online during the COVID-19 pandemic?

This chapter aims to analyze and discuss key points on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women's football in Brazil. Understanding this pandemic as an event from Michel Foucault's viewpoint, in the meaning he attributed as an eruption of a historical singularity, we see that this worldwide epidemic affects several segments of society, such as sports. In Brazil, football championships were suspended in March and resumed in August 2020, due to the worsening of the health crisis and as a way to prevent the spread of the virus. In light of this, many clubs also began to face a financial crisis that affected women's football, which structure is still underdeveloped and emerging. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze what discourses were produced, published and disseminated about women's football in Brazil on news websites during the suspension of national championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were retrieved through Google's search engine using the descriptor "futebol feminino" (women's football) and the filters "notícias" (news) and "data" (date). In this analysis, we found that the suspension of football affected many teams, resulting in pay cuts and layoffs. Other teams, however, managed to maintain their roster and training routine in a remote capacity. In an attempt to minimize financial problems, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) provided aid to the teams. When activities resumed, however, women's football was sidelined to the background by its governing body, remaining once again in the shadow of men's football. We thus observed that even in a moment of crisis, when a greater solidarity between clubs and confederations is expected, there was still an unequal treatment between men and women in football.