12 times Richarlison was the nicest man in the world

Dismiss him at your peril: Tottenham and Brazil striker Richarlison may look like your average footballer, all snarls and tattoos, but he’s actually a gem of a human being.

Ever since his upbringing in Nova Venecia, Richarlison has been committed to both football and raising awareness for those less fortunate in society.

So we’ve uncovered 12 times where Richarlison was the nicest man in the world.

Not a Bolsonaro fan

During the late 2010s, as Brazil fell under the control of Bolsonaro’s far-right administration, Richarlison repeatedly spoke out on topics such as racism, poverty, police and gender violence, LGBTQ+ rights and environmental destruction.

He questioned how Brazil’s yellow jersey had been dragged into the country’s political dispute, and adopted a jaguar to highlight the threats to Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands.

Missing journalists

When the British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira vanished in the Amazon in June, Richarlison was one of the first celebrities to champion the campaign to try to find them.

“On top of everything, he’s sensitive and committed to Brazil,” Pereira’s widow, Beatriz Matos, tweeted at the player after his brace against Serbia at the 2022 World Cup.

Pandemic

During Brazil’s devastating coronavirus emergency – which then-president Jair Bolsonaro called a ‘little flu” – Richarlison publicly backed vaccination efforts that the science-denying premier had actively undermined.

“He’s not only a star on the pitch, he’s a star off it too,” said the favela activist Rene Silva in a Guardian interview last month, remembering how Richarlison donated oxygen cylinders to the Amazon city of Manaus when its healthcare system buckled during the pandemic.

Raising awareness

And he’s been a social champion for years.

Everton’s Richarlison has been vocal in raising awareness for social issues in Brazil, particularly the nation’s poverty. The murder of João Alberto Silveira Freitas has horrified Brazil. Pele not only has been silent on that, but he chose today to voice support of Bolsonaro.

— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) November 20, 2020

Racism

After Brazil team-mate Vinicius Jr was racially abused at La Liga matches, something stoked by the knuckle-dragging element of the Spanish media, Richarlison went in to bat for his friend.

“Boring situation, right?,” he told ESPN. “I even texted that guy over there who talked bullshit to him on the show. But that…