World champion Romario chairs the Brazilian Congress

De Souza Faría became the first former athlete to head the National Congress of the South American country

RIO DE JANEIRO – Former footballer and senator Romario, champion, scorer and best player of the 1994 World Cup in the USA with the brazilian team, on Thursday he became the first former athlete in the country to preside over the National Congress of Brazil.

The former player of clubs like the Spanish Barcelona and Valencia, elected in 2014 as a senator for the state of Rio de Janeiro, assumed the interim presidency of the Senate on Wednesday and this Thursday had to preside over a joint session of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, with which became head of one of the three powers of Brazil for a day.

Romarior, in his capacity as second vice president and third in the line of succession, he will serve as interim president of the Senate until November 16 due to the fact that the president of the Upper House, Rodrigo Pacheco, and the vice president, Marcelo Ramos, traveled to Glasgow to participate in activities of the COP26 Climate Summit.

“Nothing is more symbolic than, in the month of black consciousness, the chair of the president of this Parliament is occupied by a black man, a fighter, a person from the favela, a Brazilian at his best,” said the former footballer in a brief speech that he delivered when assuming the joint session of both chambers.

Romario, who was elected by the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB) but is currently a member of the right-wing Liberal Party (PL), highlighted in the speech his humble origins and poor childhood before starting his career as a footballer.

“I thank the Brazilian people for being here. Count on me to conduct the work in the most democratic way possible,” said the striker who won the silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and the America’s Cup titles in 1989 and 1997. and the FIFA Confederations Cup in 1997.

Romario entered politics in 2010, when he was elected deputy for his native state of Rio de Janeiro, and in 2014 he took another step in that career and obtained a seat in the Senate, which he holds to this day and which he aspires to renew in the elections. Legislative of October next year.