A GREVE DE JOGADORES DE FUTEBOL PROFISSIONAL NO URUGUAI: JORNAL EL PAÍS (1948 – 1949)

doi.org/10.29327/211653.6.10-2

Abstract

In the year of 1948 the Uruguayan soccer experienced a serious crisis. The newly professionalized players (1932) did not have access to the same labor rights - won mainly during the Batllist governments of the first decades of the twentieth century - that other categories of workers had. In 1946 MUTUAL Uruguaya de Futbolistas Profesionales, the first representative body of football players created in that country, was created, working in a model very similar to the trade union. In 1948, this entity organized a players' strike, paralyzing the local championships for a long period of 8 months. Players claiming - among other demands - a change in the regime of hiring, union recognition and minimum wage. The strike has had an important impact on Uruguayan society and politics since football is a prominent element in that country, as well as throughout South America. The present work seeks to analyze, through the sports pages of the newspaper El País (main newspaper of the country), the conflict between players and leaders, as well as their coverage by the press and public opinion and the consequences generated.