Images of soccer superstar Christian Ronaldo can be found almost anywhere around the world. UBCO Sociology Professor Luís LM Aguiar, who is reintroducing his course about the sociology of Ronaldo, discusses the ongoing popularity of soccer and why it resonates with millions of people. Photo credit: Portuguese Gravity on Unsplash.
Whether it’s called football, soccer or the beautiful game, there is no doubt footie has a firm standing around the globe.
With an international fan base estimated to be in the billions—and from million-dollar salaries, high-demand ticket sales, network game coverage, to fan-based merchandise—it is a multi-billion-dollar industry.
In 2026, the City of Vancouver is slated to host six FIFA World Cup games—two with Canada defending its home turf in what is expected to be a sold-out BC Place. Just last week, Canada’s national team made it to the semi-finals in a Copa America games with that series and the European Championship—both running simultaneously—concluding on the weekend.
In January 2025, Dr. Luís LM Aguiar, Associate Professor of Sociology in UBC Okanagan’s Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, will reintroduce his popular for-credit course that studies the phenomenon of Portuguese soccer sensation Cristiano Ronaldo. First offered in 2015, students will learn about the sociological relevance and the importance of organized sport, the forces that create a global athlete and identity, nationality and representation.
Dr. Aguiar talks about international rivalries in the Copa America or the World Cup, the growing popularity of the game and why the sociology of Ronaldo makes a good university course.
Why is soccer such an international passion?
First, because it remains—at least at the grassroots level—an inexpensive sport to play. All one needs is a grassy or padded area of soil, mud or concrete, a ball and shoes. Second, anyone can play. One doesn’t have to be tall, particularly physically strong, or even fast. Third, it is good exercise. One can run long or short or back or sideways. All body parts are involved in playing futebol.
What is the sociological significance of megastars like Ronaldo or Messi? Or the World Cup event?
There are many different interpretations of the significance of Ronaldo and Messi. Mine centres on how they are evoked and represented in the media or elsewhere and what this suggests for an understanding of our contemporary values and culture.
Sociology-wise, I’m not interested in the “real” Ronaldo or Messi, even if this were possible, but instead I want to focus on the discourses inscribed onto them and what these discourses reveal—not about them but ourselves.
In terms of the World Cup, or even the current Copa America games, a sociological perspective might discuss how the event uses culture and football to establish boundaries between nation states when players and cultures more generally refuse to be bounded and are increasingly transnational in formation and identities.
What effect you do think FIFA, and BC hosting several games will have on the sport’s Canadian fanbase?
Canadian sports fans are thrilled by the prospect of these games and Canadian soccer officials will say that it will help develop the sport in Canada.
However, the actual effect will be difficult to measure. What may be more meaningful are changes Canadian soccer officials can make to ensure inclusion and access to a sport that is increasingly expensive (and against its nature) in terms of equity, participation and travel, just to mention three.
What are the social and economic forces driving the various constructions of Cristiano Ronaldo and what this says about our contemporary values and culture?
Ronaldo, and his staff, have become a media marketing machine with its own goals and strategies. While he currently plays for the Saudi Pro League, Ronaldo has also been adopted by Portugal to represent the country along with the ideals it values and seeks to promote across the nation state. We discuss this in the course.
Do students need to love soccer, or Ronaldo for that matter, to enrol in this course?
Neither of these is a prerequisite for taking the course. Students who are interested in contemporary culture and its representations in the embodiment of Ronaldo are welcome to enrol in the course which is offered at UBCO starting January 2025.
