INCT Football to Bring Together Around 300 Researchers in Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais

“Between the Football World Cups in Brazil in the 21st Century: What Happened to Football?” is the theme of an upcoming INCT Football event. The 2nd INCT Brazilian Football Studies Meeting and 4th Futebol nas Gerais (4th Football across Minas Gerais) will bring together football researchers from different regions in the city of Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, from September 16 to 19, 2026. Given the number of registered participants, the organizers expect to promote a major interdisciplinary gathering featuring roundtables, thematic groups, discussion circles, book launches, and social gatherings.

So far, 287 people have registered to take part in the event. A total of 219 papers were submitted in the oral presentation and poster categories. They will be presented by 198 different researchers. In addition, 89 people have already confirmed their participation as attendees. The final spots are still available, and registration remains open on the event page. Including the researchers invited to take part in the roundtables and the organizing team, around 300 participants are already expected.

Professor Silvio Ricardo da Silva (UFOP/INCT Football), a member of the organizing committee, highlights the strong public interest, with registrations nearing the total number of available spots. Two weeks before the event, Silvio emphasizes what participants can expect: “We expect to have a broad discussion around football studies. The event’s theme deserves particular attention, addressing this period of major changes in Brazilian football, from the 2014 World Cup to the 2027 World Cup.”

Silvana Goellner (UFRGS) is among the invited researchers. The professor and women’s football activist will take part in the opening roundtable, “Between the Football World Cups in Brazil,” alongside Luiz Eduardo Soares (UFRJ), with Mariane Pisani (UFPI/INCT Football) as moderator. Silvana gives us a preview of what she is preparing for her talk: “From the perspective of women’s football, I will discuss what happened in Brazil between 2014 and 2027 in terms of the development of the women’s game, considering issues of structure, visibility and, above all, the historical differences between men’s and women’s football.” The roundtable will take place on Wednesday, September 16, at 6:30 p.m.

Two years ago, Luiz Henrique Zart attended the 1st INCT Brazilian Football Studies Meeting, held in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, and will now take part in the edition in Minas Gerais. “What motivated me to participate in this edition, above all, is the fact that this is a space devoted to more specific discussions of the phenomena that interest me—particularly those related to media, journalism, and football. Events with this kind of focus are rare, so I couldn’t miss it,” says the doctoral student in Journalism at PPGJOR/UFSC, who will chair the first session of the thematic group “Media and Mediated Aspects of Football.”

Thais Rodrigues de Almeida (UFSC) is part of INCT Football, where she coordinates undergraduate research fellows, and she will also be attending the meeting. “Personally, I see the event as an opportunity to foster in-person encounters and dialogue within the network of researchers. Especially for our undergraduate research students, it provides the opportunity to meet authors whose work they are reading and citing, as well as to establish new institutional connections and partnerships,” the professor explains. In the thematic group “Women’s and LGBTQIAPN+ Football,” Thais will present the research “Stands in Dispute: Gender, Belonging, and the Experiences of Women Football Supporters”, based on her doctoral thesis. “It is a joy to be among highly qualified colleagues and to deepen the debates in the field. We also have the social gatherings and bonds that make academic spaces more humane and affectionate. I’m already counting down the days until the event”, she says.

The papers submitted for the oral presentations were divided into eight other thematic groups: “Indigenous and Paralympic Football”, “Organized Supporters’ Groups, Collectives, and Fan Movements”, “Anti-Racist Movements in Football”, “Amateur and Community Football”, “Football Infrastructure and Stadiums”, “Football Institutions, Economics, and Policies”, “Football Training, Careers, and Migration”, and “Football Memories and Museums”.

The program will also include the Simoni Lahud Guedes Award ceremony, honoring the best master’s dissertations and doctoral theses on football defended in Brazil. The award will be presented by Roberto DaMatta (University of Notre Dame), one of the pioneers of football studies in Brazil. The researcher will also take part in a discussion circle following the ceremony. Students who will have the opportunity to meet the anthropologist are eagerly awaiting his participation. Luiz Henrique Zart highlights: “It is important to have the opportunity to be in contact with leading figures in the field who go beyond the pages of articles and books and are, after all, flesh-and-blood people too.”

In addition to the discussions that highlight the academic field of football studies, the event also aims to encourage participants to engage with the host city, which is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ouro Preto offers a wide range of historical and cultural attractions, as well as numerous restaurants, cafés, bars, and snack bars. Around Cesário Alvim Square and the Railway Station, there are several establishments within a short walk of the event venue. Bar Cultural ASSUFOP, located next to the Convention Center, will host one of the participants’ social gatherings. The guide “How to Get to Ouro Preto?” is available on the INCT Football website, providing guidance on how to reach the city and how to get around during the event. We will also soon publish a guide to food options in Ouro Preto.

The 2nd INCT Brazilian Football Studies Meeting and 4th Futebol nas Gerais will be organized through a partnership between the National Institute of Science and Technology for Brazilian Football Studies (INCT Football), the Football and Supporters Studies Group (GEFuT/UFMG), the Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP), and National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), with support from the Brazilian Association for Research and Graduate Studies in Leisure Studies (ANPEL) and the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Leisure Studies (PPGIEL/UFMG). The event is coordinated by Carmen Rial, Silvio Ricardo da Silva, and Priscila Augusta Ferreira Campos. See the full program!