Abstract
In this article, based on the analysis of reports from nine foreign newspapers published during the World Cup and the Olympics held in Brazil, we discuss whether the category of Soft power can be applied to the Brazil of mega sporting events. We consider that it cannot be applied to peripheral nations and must be rethought for countries with dependent economies. Therefore, we propose an initial redefinition of the soft power theory. This context gives rise to ‘heterodox soft power’ category based on which we consider that the newspapers analysed portray two different countries in the same territory - one in 2014 and another one in 2016. We point out five hypotheses to understand this phenomenon: organization, size, characteristics, logistics, lack of interest. In addition, this study shows that there are no elements to corroborate advances in Brazilian soft power after the World Cup (2014) and the Olympics (2016).
Keywords
Sports; Brazil; Soft power; Social Media; Global South