Admittedly, this historic first is partly explained by a change in FIFA regulations.

The number of players registered per selection has been increased from 23 to a maximum of 26 from this World Cup-2022.

But during the Copa América disputed last year in Brazil, when each team could call up to 28 players on an exceptional basis, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all the selections had presented themselves with a number 24 ... except the host country.

An NGO had even sued the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF), without success.

Clandestine lotto game

The prejudices associated with the "24" come from the "jogo do bicho" (game of the beast), an underground lotto that appeared at the end of the 19th century in the streets of Rio, and is still practiced.

Each bettor must choose a square represented by an animal and the number 24 is that of the deer, associated with homosexuality in Brazilian popular culture, among other things because it belongs to the animal species whose males can have sexual relations with each other. .

In addition, the word designating this animal in Portuguese, veado, has a similar sound to viado, an insult designating a homosexual.

The appearance of the "24" on the Auriverde jersey at the 2022 World Cup therefore has symbolic significance.

Both in Brazil, where this number is taboo, and in Qatar, host country of a World Cup marked by controversy linked to LGBT + rights and the ban on European captains from wearing the rainbow armband.

It is the central defender Gleison Bremer, 25, who released the number 24 during the third and last group match of the Seleçao, lost on Friday against Cameroon (1-0).

The Juventus player, where he wears the N.3, had not played the first two games, won against Serbia (2-0) and Switzerland (1-0).

He may have the opportunity to put it on again in the round of 16 against South Korea on Monday, even if he is still little used.

"For me it's a shirt like any other, the important thing is to be in the World Cup, the number doesn't matter," the defender told reporters in Doha a week ago and a half, however discarding any political connotation in this choice.

Symbol of LGBTQ+ resistance

Clichés die hard, some men refuse, for example, to sit on armchair 24 at the theater or in the cinema, to live in apartment 24 in a building or use 23+1 candles to celebrate their 24th birthday.

The number has long been boycotted by players in the Brazilian league, where the few to wear it are usually foreigners or the third goalkeeper.

But for some members of the LGBT+ community, it has recently become a symbol of resistance and protest.

It is common to see it written on the t-shirts of inclusive associations.

In neighborhood tournaments between gay teams, it can be as coveted as Pelé's "10".

"We would have liked it to be a militant action, like those carried out by other teams, but it's great to see that it is happening on this international stage," Railson Oliveira told AFP. , founder of FieL LGBT, a collective of Corinthians supporters of Sao Paulo, about the use of "24" at the World Cup by Seleçao.

Until Friday, there were at least two uses of such a jersey during a Brazil match.

Both times in friendly, where there are usually no strict numerical rules.

It was worn by forwards Taison in the 3-1 win over Japan in November 2017 and Roberto Firmino in the 3-0 win over Ghana in September, although the Liverpool player did not come on board. ground.

Times seem to be changing.

During Rio Gay Pride last Sunday, a giant "Seleção" t-shirt with the number 24 and a rainbow armband was unfurled with the support of the Brazilian Football Confederation.

"We feel a wind of maturity blowing, in the sense that (it is now more obvious) that a number has nothing to do with someone's sexual orientation", welcomed the founder of FieL LGBT .

© 2022 AFP