Through a documentary corpus composed of journalistic sources, this research analyzed the role of sports in anti-communist propaganda in Brazil, with a focus on Brazil’s achievements in the 1959 and 1963 men’s world basketball championships, in the context of the Cold War. The study concludes that symbolic sports disputes disallow a dualistic explanation of the relationship between communist and anti-communist groups, since the relevant sports tournaments were represented differently in the press, reflecting distinct political positions within the Brazilian context prior to the 1964 coup.
KEYWORDS: Cold War; history of sports; anti-communism; press; Brazil
