Muito Além do Jogo: futebol feminino na fronteira Brasil-Bolívia

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/ra.v18i1.103237

Abstract

This paper discusses the Brazil-Bolivia border through women's football, going beyond its sporting purpose to observe its broad cultural reach and understand its ability to reshape existing prejudices on the Brazil-Bolivia border between Corumbá-Ladário, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, and Puerto Suarez–Puerto Quijarro, in the Province of Santa Cruz. It aims to analyze the Women's Amateur Football Integration Cup, an annual championship promoted by the Municipal Government of Corumbá. The research methodology is qualitative and exploratory, combining theoretical investigation with field and documentary research. Primary data were collected and analyzed through semi-structured interviews with participants in the event in 2024, including athletes, coaches, and managers. The results indicate that its structure, periodicity, and visual communication value women's football, which has historically been made invisible and neglected, it strengthens its history and official memory. Its plural structure, composed of teams with Brazilian, Bolivian, and mixed members, breaks with the logic of separation, rises against prejudice, and builds bonds of solidarity, affection, friendship, and connection to the place. In doing so, it reaffirms socioterritorial belonging and contributes to the consolidation of border identity.

Author Biographies

Dinarte Narhan Santos Mendonça, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul

Master's student in Border Studies at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul. Bachelor's degree in Physical Education (teaching/professional) from Anhanguera University - Uniderp (2010), specialization in Psychomotricity from Aldeia de Carapicuíba College (2015), specialization in Soccer and Futsal from the University of Araraquara (2020), specialization in School Physical Education from Facuminas Graduate College. Currently works at the Sports Foundation of the Municipal Government of Corumbá (FUNEC). Has experience in the field of Physical Education, with an emphasis on school Physical Education, sports training in soccer and futsal, giving lectures in short courses and Latin American congresses related to futsal.

Ana Paula Araujo, UFMS

Full Professor at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul - UFMS. Coordinator of the Laboratory of Rural and Regional Studies FAENG/UFMS. She holds a Postdoctoral degree in Geography from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2015), supervised by Ana Maria de Souza M. Bicalho, CAPES fellow. She earned her PhD (2006) and Master's degree (1998) in Geography from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, CAPES fellow. She conducts research on the following topics: sustainability, agroecology, food security, multifunctionality, rural-urban relations, urban and peri-urban agriculture, African-origin religions, territorial identity, belonging, place, the Pantanal, and border regions.

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Published

2026-07-01

How to Cite

Santos Mendonça, D. N., & Araujo, A. P. (2026). Muito Além do Jogo: futebol feminino na fronteira Brasil-Bolívia. The Journal of the Latin American Socio-Cultural Studies of Sport (ALESDE), 18(1), 107–120. https://doi.org/10.5380/ra.v18i1.103237

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 1 (2026): Dossier: Physical Education, Sport, and Body Practices in Border Contexts

Section

Dossiês

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