Os intelectuais da bola e o “ópio do povo”: retomando o debate sobre futebol e ideologia

The objective of this article is to elucidate the fundamental tenets of the "opium of the people" thesis, thereby demonstrating the extent to which these assumptions are applicable in the analysis of the relationship between football and power in contemporary Brazil. In examining these concepts, we contend that they give rise to a number of issues, including: an overestimation of football's capacity to integrate individuals into the social order, a portrayal of class domination as a pervasive structural feature of social contexts, and an inadequate resolution of the long-standing problems surrounding the truth/falsehood issue.