For a lot of people outside the country, the main problem concerning Brazilian football is the delays in construction for the World Cup. However, I would like to bring to your attention a situation that should not be deemed unimportant in comparison: since last year, Brazilian professional footballers have united to demand better conditions, and the weak response we have received from the Brazilian Football Confederation, our ruling body, has increased the possibility of an all-out strike in the first week of the Brazilian championship, on 19 April.
It is possible that it could happen sooner; in the past 10 days two clubs in Sao Paulo state, Corinthians and Ponte Preta, have been victims of co-ordinated actions from groups of ultras who invaded their respective training grounds and threatened players. That has shed a lot of light on the problems we, the players, are facing in this country, a proud football country about to host the World Cup.
Our movement is called Common Sense FC and we are proud of the way things have evolved quite organically. It all started last September, when two players who returned to Brazil after years playing in Europe – the former Fenerbahce midfielder Alex and the former Roma defender Juan – were exchanging shirts at the end of a game and talked about how disappointed they were with how little the situation had changed in Brazilian football.
While new stadiums have been built for the World Cup, professional players in Brazil still have to endure conditions that at times are far from ideal: bad pitches, shabby dressing rooms, and as we have seen lately, security issues. Since September, more than a thousand footballers have joined Common Sense, which has made possible actions such as the massive sit-down with crossed arms we performed before the start of every game in the 34th week of last year's Brazilian championship.
This, however, is not a movement for players who have experienced the exemplary organisation of some European leagues and are now "too good to compromise" after coming back home. We are all aware of the differences in infrastructure and financial situation on both sides of the Atlantic. But that should not be an argument for us to ignore problems that can be solved.
Brazilian football faces serious issues, starting with a calendar that is too congested. Unlike in Europe, Brazilian clubs have to play state championships, if only not to create huge problems for smaller sides without the means to enter the four national divisions. The big clubs also are involved in continental tournaments, which could result in a team playing about 80 matches in a season. "But in Europe players are also sometimes playing 70 games in a season," I was once told by a Brazilian journalist; but none of them has to travel as much as we do in Brazil and they certainly don't play on pitches that sometimes have potholes and shabby lighting for night matches.
I sometimes laugh when I hear the media complaining that we don't play a passing game as smooth as is seen in Europe, because sometimes it is impossible to pass the ball properly on a bad pitch. Also, I don't think players who have played abroad should immediately be perceived as spoiled. I lived away from Brazil for nine years and it did shock me, for example, to come back and see that some grounds had not had any improvements in all that time I'd been in Europe.
It is not only pitches and the fixture programme, though. I see problems with the approach towards things. At Arsenal, for example, Arsène Wenger knows everything that is happening at the club, he is always aware of developments in the academy, and players are stimulated to learn from the guys in the first team. At one club in Brazil I was once horrified to learn that the young players were barred from watching the pros practice. I have to refer to Arsenal again: David Dein always impressed me when he came to the dressing room and complimented every player by name, even the ones who were from the academy. Then I think of a situation with the Brazilian national team in which the CBF president didn't even remember the name of a player who had won his first cap …
Although we are pretty satisfied with the reception the movement has received so far, the players have been criticised by some members of the public and the media. I have heard claims that we should not be whingeing because footballers make much more money than most people. This is not totally true. In fact, most professional footballers in Brazil make around twice the minimum wage a month (about £350), but people prefer to focus on the high-earners.
Even players in the first division often experience delays in payments, and no worker should go through that. That is why Common Sense is also pressing for a set of financial fair play rules that clubs would have to obey so that we could avoid problems in payments and nudge clubs into more careful planning.
This demand is an example of how Common Sense is not self-centred. More organisation will undeniably lead to a better game in Brazil, and everybody can profit from that, including supporters and clubs. That's why we are also interested in securing the presence of players in the decision-making process within ruling bodies. It is fundamental that our views are taken into account.
The ultra question has now become important. We are fully aware that not every supporter is a thug and not every club ignores their activities. We know there are clubs who use ultras for political reasons and even subsidise them with tickets and travel expenses but, while this is not illegal, we can't accept intimidation by these groups and it is crucial to give a robust response to the events of the past 10 days.
Brazilian football needs to sort itself out before things get really difficult. We already have low attendances at league games, and the lack of planning is likely to affect the national team sooner rather than later. Brazil have won five world titles, but that doesn't mean things don't have to improve and that mistakes have not been made. The world has caught up as we have seen in the international game.
Sometimes I have the impression the decision-makers in Brazil are hiding behind our accolades. Even with all the money the CBF makes with its sponsors, in the long-term the quality of our national team will be affected if most clubs remain in tatters. There are some good examples of good practices but they are still in a minority, and this needs to be addressed for the sake of our game. And this is why a strike to paralyse the Brazilian championship in April is very likely – I'd say there's an 80% chance.
Since I started with the Common Sense movement, I have been released by the club I played for in 2013, Atlético Mineiro, and so far I haven't managed to secure a team to play for in 2014. I am 37 but even after knee surgery last year I still managed to finish the year playing.
It has crossed my mind that my activism might be closing doors for me but if that's the price to pay for these issues to become public, I will happily pay it. The players know our movement will add up to negative news linked to the World Cup but it is important we get our message across. People abroad need to know what is going on.
Gilberto Silva, the former Arsenal midfielder, was talking to Fernando Duarte