This paper presents ethnographic data obtained during the author's fieldwork in sports bars in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, providing the basis for a theory of 'football joking relationships.' The notion of the 'joking relationship' is well-known to anthropological theory, due in particular to the classic article 'Parentés à plaisanteries' by Marcel Mauss, published in 1926, though its origins can be traced back to earlier works by authors such as Robert Lowie and A. R. Radcliffe-Brown. This paper connects the playful expression of feelings to the symbolic universe of football in Brazilian society. Voluntary support for a favourite club enables the fan to take part in a series of 'games' associated with football, but parallel to it, such as betting, verbal duels and challenges, which involve the symbolic logics of honour, gender and power endemic to Brazilian society.
Football (Soccer); Sociability; Conflict; Joking relationship