BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) \u2014 Colombia\u2019s national soccer jersey \u2014 a symbol of unity and pride as the team heads to the 2026 FIFA World Cup \u2014 has become embroiled in the country\u2019s bitterly disputed presidential election, sparking debate over whether the yellow shirt should be used at political rallies.<\/p>\n
Regularly worn at matches, on national holidays and other special occasions, the bright yellow jersey is now frequently worn at political rallies by supporters of Abelardo de la Espriella. The bombastic lawyer who amassed the most votes in the first round of the election Sunday often dons the jersey himself as he speaks to his supporters from a stage, where he\u2019s usually protected by suited bodyguards and bulletproof glass.<\/p>\n
Sen. Iv\u00e1n Cepeda, the candidate for Colombia\u2019s ruling party and an ally of President Gustavo Petro, this week slammed his rival\u2019s choice of apparel, accusing him of stealing a national symbol.<\/p>\n
In a message on social platform X Monday, Cepeda wrote that using the national team\u2019s jersey at political rallies was an \u201copportunistic act\u201d whose legality should be examined.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe national (soccer) team belongs to all of us,\u201d said Cepeda, who is representing Petro\u2019s party, the Historical Pact, and came in second place during the first round of voting Sunday. The runoff vote will be held June 21. \u201cStop stealing things that belong to the entire nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cepeda, who shows up at campaign rallies wearing dark cardigans and mandarin-collared white shirts, this week asked his supporters to refrain from wearing Colombia\u2019s jersey or any other national symbols at his rallies.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s run a clean, transparent campaign,\u201d Cepeda said.<\/p>\n
De la Espriella, a conservative celebrity lawyer who calls himself \u201cthe tiger\u201d has not replied to Cepeda\u2019s comments on the use of jerseys. But members of his campaign are now encouraging supporters to use them as much as possible \u2014 as a way to defy Cepeda and Petro\u2019s government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis jersey, besides showing support for our players, now also represents the defense of the freedoms that Cepeda wants to take away from us,\u201d Daniel Brice\u00f1o, a congressman who supports de la Espriella, said in a video.<\/p>\n
Echoes of Brazil<\/p>\n
The tug-of-war over Colombia\u2019s national jersey echoes recent developments in Brazil, where the country\u2019s famous gold and green jersey was appropriated by supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro at the end of last decade.<\/p>\n
Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest for plotting a coup after he lost Brazil\u2019s 2022 election, promoted the use of the Brazilian jersey during his rallies and urged his supporters to wear it to polling stations on voting days.<\/p>\n
During his second term in office, Brazilian President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva has sought to reclaim the jersey by wearing it at public events and encouraging his supporters to wear it as well, so that \u201cthe colors or Brazil are not taken over by any fascist.\u201d Brazilian pop stars aligned with Lula have also donned the soccer shirt at concerts as part of the efforts to reclaim it.<\/p>\n
Carlos Andr\u00e9s Arias, a political marketing consultant in Bogota, said that politicians from Cepeda\u2019s party, including President Petro, have also used Colombia\u2019s yellow jersey at rallies, and in political ads, but less consistently.<\/p>\n
He said that de la Espriella benefits from using the jersey because it evokes patriotism, one of the values he promotes at his rallies. De la Espriella has pledged to take a tougher approach to security and end peace talks with rebel groups.<\/p>\n
Arias said that Cepeda\u2019s efforts to stop his opponents from using the jersey at political rallies are likely to backfire, because they serve to strengthen the link between de la Espriella\u2019s campaign and the national team\u2019s jersey.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople will now think that wearing the jersey is a sure way to support de la Espriella,\u201d Arias said.<\/p>\n
Colombia\u2019s National Football Federation, which owns the marketing rights to the jerseys, said earlier this week it had no way to control how its shirts are used in non-commercial events, though it expressed regret that they are being used for purposes unrelated to sports.<\/p>\n
Ra\u00fal Cardona, a volunteer for Cepeda\u2019s campaign in Bogota, said the candidate\u2019s supporters will now use the jersey at their own rallies. He added that he has already seen some Cepeda backers wearing Colombia\u2019s national team shirt at recent marches in Bogota.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to democratize the use of the jersey,\u201d Cardona said. \u201cAnd stop the rival campaign from monopolizing this symbol.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Follow AP\u2019s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/p>\n
Manuel Rueda, The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) \u2014 Colombia\u2019s national soccer jersey \u2014 a symbol of unity and pride as the team…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,77,561,82],"class_list":["post-712243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-international","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}