From the football field to life | Paulo Cesar Fonseca do Nascimento Tinga | TEDxLaçadorSalon

Tinga spoke about the prejudice he suffered, about his career, the important decisions and made a surprise announcement of his retirement from football.

Born and raised in Restinga, periphery of Porto Alegre, Brazil, Tinga had many difficulties as a child, and it was these difficulties that made him want to change his life and to show that yes, there is hope for one who believes. As a player known worldwide, he played for several teams including Grêmio, Internacional, Borussia Dortmund and many others. He was playing for Cruzeiro, when in one of the games, he suffered prejudice in an incident that has become known worldwide. He turned things around and helped to create the "Kicking Prejudice" campaign, in partnership with CUFA. With the help of many friends, today, through the media, it is a campaign known worldwide.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Good morning.

I'll try to tell you what I think,

what I believe led me
to be here this morning

speaking to you at TEDx,

which is of great importance
to the whole world.

On a February night in 2014,

in Peru, in a small city,

in a football game

where I was playing for Cruzeiro
in the Libertadores Cup

upon entering the field
for the second half,

every time I saw the ball
coming towards me

and I got the ball,

I heard a monkey sound, and well ...

This was increasing
every minute of the game.

Since we were losing the game, we were
tuned into the tension of the match.

Since it was an important match,

I didn't even sense what was happening.

This wasn't the first time
that it had happened;

we were getting used to it
and were overcoming all that.

There was only a little time left
before the end of game.

I was on the sideline

when the match ended, and the press
was already on the border of the field.

The press came in my direction,

and I was imagining that they
would talk about the result

because we had lost the game.

In my head, I was ready
with a quick response

because football questions
are normally all the same,

so the answers are also all the same.

(Laughter)

So I had the answers ready. Easy, right?

I thought that they would ask,

"Why did you lose?",
"Why didn't you score?"

So I was ready with all those answers.

And to my surprise -
this was only the three to five seconds

after the game was finished,
it was very quick -

the question was different than all those
I had ever heard at the end of a game.

The question was the following:

they asked me what I felt

or how I felt

after having won so many titles,

played in so many countries,

to be suffering that act of racism
or racial insult -

I don't remember very well how he spoke -

in a neighbor country to ours.

And that question surprised me

because, as I said, I assumed
it would be the usual question.

And that surprised me,
and I was not prepared with an answer.

I seized that opportunity.

As I didn't have an answer,

I seized the opportunity when he spoke
of achievements and titles

that I had won in my career.

And I simply said
that I would trade all my titles

for racial and social equality, anyway ...

That is what I said,
but it was real quick.

At the end, I went to the locker room,

took a shower ...

There was no cell phone reception
in the stadium; the city was underserved.

The reception was very weak
at the hotel, too.

I arrived at the hotel and it was already
late here in Brazil, it was one o'clock.

I grabbed the telephone
and, as was my practice, I called home.

When I called home, my family,
my wife, my children,

everyone was asking
what had happened and how I was.

I said, "I'm okay,
we lost the game, right?

I'm upset, but it's the way it goes.

Sports are like this,
you win, you lose ..."

I thought it was about this
that they were asking.

My family said, "No, this that happened,"
and such, and I wasn't aware of anything!

There was no internet, nothing
in the room, the situation was precarious.

Then they said, "No, it's coming out
on all the websites all over the world,

the country's president talked
about it, our president too,

and various athletes across the world,
many people are talking about this issue."

I was worried because I am a guy
that doesn't like much the media thing,

I always liked to be valued only
for my work, for my accomplishments.

I don't like this thing of -

So it started to frighten me.

I went downstairs to talk with
the press agent about what was happening,

and when I arrived, there were
many people in the reception area,

press from all the places
that were covering the game.

I went upstairs fast, he came to my room,
"Look, people want to talk to you."

I said, "No, I have nothing to say.

Tell them that I am sleeping,
that I'm going to sleep, or something."

And when I woke up the next day,
we caught the flight, arrived in Brazil,

and the thing continued, even bigger.

And that frightened me because I didn't
want to see my name spinning like that.

Of course, I didn't look for that.

What I did was simply

give an answer like anyone
unprepared for the issue would,

but it was an answer
that came from my heart.

I think that in every battle,
in every war, or whatever,

the only solution for me is in love.

So, that's what I said, that I would trade
all my titles for equality.

That was what came to my mind,
and I seized that opportunity,

And the thing started to be
talked about more and more,

and then my phone rang.

It was Dinorah and Manuel,

who are representatives of CUFA,
Central Única das Favelas.

We've set up a few
football projects together,

so, we were already partners
in other activities,

and we talked about -

because the thing was so big -

creating a campaign, a project, something,

and we started to talk about names,
about what could be done ...

I remember that, out of the various
names being considered,

one was "Chutando o Racismo,"
"Kicking Racism,"

as we were talking about that,
and the World Cup was coming up.

We reached a conclusion.

I thought the name should be "Chutando
o Preconceito," "Kicking Prejudice,"

and they immediately agreed
because there was this idea,

that we should talk not only
about racism, but all types of prejudice,

because I believe that when I am lecturing
and talking about prejudice,

I don't need to talk about what I suffered
or what I am going to suffer

for the color of my skin, or for my hair,

just as I believe also that when we
are talking about a disabled person,

someone in a wheelchair
or an obese person,

we don't need to talk
about what they have suffered

or are going to suffer from their problem.

With our eyes, we can see
and imagine many things,

and all of us have
a little prejudice in our hearts.

Both the black and the white,
anyway, we have it.

What I try to convey is that we first
accept that we have this,

and then try to evolve, to improve.

And then we created the project
"Kicking Prejudice."

The project's first action
was at Shopping Total.

We did a really cool activity,
many participated, influential people,

both from football and the media.

And this ended up running all over Brazil

where I gave 16 lectures in 2014.

I didn't give more because
I was playing and didn't have time.

Many of these lectures used
a question-and-answer model,

and what surprised me a lot
was that each time I lectured,

there were always some repeated questions,

about how I overcame it,

how I had the calmness

to overcome or live with it and be calm.

Because it wasn't the first time
that this happened to an athlete,

this has already happened many times,
especially in Europe, it happens nonstop,

and in the majority of cases,
athletes, whether entitled or not,

react to it in a different way.

Many leave the football field,
many throw their shirt,

many react by cursing the fan.

I believe that each one reacts in one way,

and the way that I reacted was
that I only gave a short sentence,

but I think that this is what made
a difference and an impact.

So they asked this a lot, how I,
as a person, had reacted like this.

I couldn't say why I reacted in this way

without talking about my life

because we don't do anything
for which we are not prepared.

My preparation, my base -

I always say that I had a very good base.

I will explain to you about
my family base which was very good,

a base in which I was raised
practically by my mother alone.

When I was seven, my father abandoned us,
it was just my older sister and me.

A base where my mother
left for work at 7 a.m.

and came back home at 6 p.m.

This is one of the things
that I remember most,

that my mother, when Friday,
Saturday and Sunday arrived,

mainly Friday and Saturday,
as she worked at a club,

there would be parties,
dancing, at the club,

so she worked extra hours.

And that was an extra source of income.

I remember that I liked to play football,

I arrived at 6 p.m. at home
and my mother said,

"Son, don't make any noise because I have
to go out again at 10 p.m. to work."

There were three short hours that she had
to sleep and to return to work

because she worked all night.

So this is the base that I have,

and the memory that I have
of childhood is a memory of work,

that I arrived at home,

my mother had just arrived from work
and was already resting to work again.

I woke up in the morning and she arrived
at seven, eight o'clock in the morning,

bringing something different,

maybe something to eat
that I hadn't had all week.

So, in my head, I imagined

that work, honesty, her discipline
to the schedule that she kept,

sleeping just a bit to then leave again,
this brought good things.

I would wake up in the morning
and stay at the window waiting.

She would come carrying bags
and I would run to get them.

I was growing up imagining that work

and meeting schedules was a good thing

because when I asked for sneakers
or something, she said,

"This week I will work longer
so I can buy the sneakers."

So the base that I had was of work,
of honesty, of keeping a schedule.

And these were things
that I carried into my career,

since I arrived in Grêmio, at 15.

I always say that I was educated
inside of sports,

and, for this reason, I strongly encourage
all schools that have sports, music,

or whatever thing that teaches discipline
and maintaining schedules.

I ended up carrying this
through my entire life,

so I always tell people

that having a schedule,
a work schedule, was my base.

Why do I say this?

Because I see a lot
of people taking a stand

and, sometimes, even using as an excuse
the fact that they had no base,

that they've been raised
only by their mother, or by their father,

and that was what they lacked.

I don't see this, I can say that my mother
raised me alone with a good base,

and she was working,
practically the entire day.

So truly, as we've discussed here,
we choose our destiny,

we choose what we want
to take by example.

I could very well use this as an excuse,

I was raised by my mother and practically
didn't see her, only saw her at night,

and could use this as an excuse

and become a person without objectives,
without focus, without a profession.

And many people say,
"Oh, but he was lucky."

I did have much luck,

and every time that luck found me,
it found me working.

This was the great luck that I had.

When luck came to me,
it always found me doing something.

I was always working, waiting for it.

This is the luck that I have in my life,

of having had my mother's example,

an example of much struggle, of much work.

I'd like you to know

that I am proud to see,

on a Saturday morning,

persons of different ages and professions

worried about so many issues
that are going to be discussed here.

This shows that we are capable of being
a better country, of being better people.

This encourages me because
on a Saturday morning,

although we could be doing
many other things, we are here

to listen to different stories,
different lives.

This shows that we have dedicated people,

people that can change the world,
like was said here.

If each one of us changes our world,

we are going to reach a higher goal,
each one trying to change their world.

And this was one of the things
that encouraged me,

each day, to not only become
a player, but to become a person

because I always thought about the day
when I would stop playing football;

I would have to deal
with Paulo César, the person.

Even with failures and successes
because we are human, we are like that,

I always seek to have a life
that I can follow after football,

with respect as a man.

I believe that when we have
a talent or do something,

many times people put up with us
because of the talent we have,

but when we are men and have a discipline,

people put up with us,
in fact they respect us,

they like us for our character.

This is one of the things I have learned,
and I wanted to pass on to you:

through work and through honesty,

we can reach our goals.

I have learned in recent years

the great "trickery" of the century.

When I say this word, people get scared,

and I don't like it either,

but I have learned this,

I have lived this in the
most recent years of my career,

mainly by working outside of football too,

as much in the social part as other areas,

that the great trickery
of the century is honesty.

This is something that seems very simple,

but today, honesty is the great
trickery of the century, in business,

in day to day routine, and for people

it is very difficult to have.

Today everyone is thinking about
their own advantage, where they can win,

or what they will have to do to get there,
so it is very difficult to live this.

I have lived this way
the last years of my career,

and it has given me great joy.

I was not supposed to do it,
but I am going to confide in you here

and say that I am going
to stop playing in April.

I am telling you firsthand.

I felt the need to say this here, now.

I am going to stop with great honor.

(Applause)

(Applause) (Cheers)

Thank you.

Thank you.

Maybe what every player
and every athlete dreams of

is to announce this in a full stadium
as those where I've lived my entire life,

but for me, my biggest pride

is to be announcing this in a room
with so many educated people,

so many trained people.

My dream from when I started

was to be able one day to be on a stage

talking for people who truly are idols.

For me a true idol is a teacher, a doctor,

those that educate, those that form.

For me, this is the true idol,

those that save lives,
those that care for lives.

So I could do this in a packed stadium,

but I have great pride
in the fact that I can do this -

I don't know how many people are here,

but I know that those who are here
are persons that truly influence lives.

Thank you so much.

That's how I kicked all the difficulties
I came across in my life.

I want to know how you are going to kick

the difficulties
you come across in your lives.

(Applause) (Cheers)