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Faster, higher, stronger: Sports fan activism and mediatized political play in
the 2016 Rio Olympic Games

Article  in  Transformative Works and Cultures · March 2020

DOI: 10.3983/twc.2020.1707

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Viktor Chagas Vivian Fonseca

Universidade Federal Fluminense Fundação Getulio Vargas and Rio de Janeiro State University
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 Faster, higher, stronger: Sports fan activism and mediatized political play in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games

THEORY
Faster, higher, stronger: Sports fan activism and
mediatized political play in the 2016 Rio Olympic
Games
Viktor Chagas
Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Brazil
Vivian Luiz Fonseca
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Fundação Getulio Vargas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
[0.1] Abstract—In an analysis of sports fans activism and theoretical approaches to understand
experiences of mediatized political play, we address groups of activists who protest using fan
resources and repertoires. We focus on some episodes of protests performed by casual sports fans
against the then-acting Brazilian president Michel Temer during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. We
also further discuss the category of fan when applied to sports and political fandoms, considering the
disputes and competition background for which they are not only fans but also rooters.

[0.2] Keywords—2016 Rio Olympic Games; Mediatization; Political play; Sports fans

Chagas, Viktor, and Vivian Luiz Fonseca. 2020. "Faster, Higher, Stronger: Sports Fan Activism and Mediatized
Political Play in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games." In "Fandom and Politics," edited by Ashley Hinck and Amber
Davisson, special issue, Transformative Works and Cultures, no. 32. https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2020.1707.

1. Introduction
[1.1] On August 6, 2016, a group of twelve individuals was banned from Governador Magalhães Pinto Stadium,
popularly known as Mineirão, during a women's soccer match between the United States and France. Nine of these
individuals were wearing T-shirts with a single letter stamped on each shirt. Together, the shirts composed the phrase
"Fora Temer" (or "Out Temer"). Some carried posters with messages such as "Come Back Democracy" (Betim 2016)
(figures 1 and 2). Political pamphlets or mosaics of this nature and with similar content were displayed in various
competition venues throughout the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. On the same day, during the archery finals in the
Sambodrome of Rio de Janeiro, where carnival samba schools usually parade, a sports fan was removed from the
bleachers by National Security Forces agents, after supposedly yelling the very same "Fora Temer" expression
during a moment of required silence (Romero 2016). Similar cases were reported on social media and by alternative
media. In all these episodes, the issue of freedom of expression was put into focus, although it was generally
minimized by mainstream media with a reference to an International Olympic Committee (IOC) directive prohibiting
political and religious demonstrations at the Games, the so-called "Rule No. 50." The protests, of course, relied on
the visibility of media broadcasts to audiences around the world.