Maurício Luiz de Souza (born 29 September 1988) is a Brazilian politician, formervolleyball player, member of theBrazil men's national volleyball team,2016 Olympic Champion, silver medallist of the2018 World Championship, gold medallist of the2019 World Cup, three–timeSouth American Champion (2013,2015,2017),2014 Turkish Champion. He was sacked from theMinas Tênis Clube and the national team in October 2021 after sharing a post aboutJon Kent, the son ofSuperman, being revealed to be bisexual.[1][2]
He later joined theLiberal Party in 2022. He participated as a candidate in theparliamentary elections in the same year, being elected as afederal deputy from the state ofMinas Gerais.
Maurício Souza is married to Isabella Saldanha Castro and has two children, a girl and a boy.[3]
Souza has posted homophobic messages on hissocial networks in the past, which generated controversy. In 2014 he made a post against homosexuality but apologized after a public backlash. Another made in 2017 was removed ten hours later.[4]
In 2021, Souza criticized thecomic characterJonathan Samuel Kent, who in theDC Universe is the son ofSuperman/Clark Kent andLois Lane, for being revealed as bisexual.[5] After a negative reaction,Fiat andGerdau, sponsors ofMinas Tênis Clube, the team the athlete works for, demanded measures from the club's board of directors and repudiated the player's attitude.[5] The sports team then decided to fine[6] and temporarily remove Souza,[7] in addition to stating that "the player's opinions do not represent the beliefs of the partner sports institution" and that he should recant.[5][6] Theorganized supporters Independente Minas also released a statement in which it said it "will ignore the athlete Maurício Souza in social networks, games and demonstrations".[8]
After the controversy, Souza published a message of retraction for the statements on hisTwitter account.[9] However, on October 27, 2021, the team terminated their contract with him.[10]Renan Dal Zotto, coach of the Brazilian Men's Volleyball Team, said he "was disappointed" with the conduct of Maurício Souza and that "there is no room for homophobic professionals" in the selection.[11] As a result, Souza lost his place within the national team. 20 federal deputies from 13 states and seven political parties lodged complaints against him with the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais.[2]
2013/2014 – withHalkbank Ankara
Florianópolis 2009 – with Brasil Vôlei ClubeBelo Horizonte 2013 – withVivo/Minas
Turkish SuperCup, withHalkbank Ankara Turkish Cup, withHalkbank Ankara
Turkish Championship, withHalkbank Ankara Brazilian Cup, withVôlei Taubaté Brazilian SuperCup, withVôlei Taubaté Brazilian SuperCup, withVôlei TaubatéSouza is a public supporter ofJair Bolsonaro.[12] Shortly after the defeat of theBrazilian volleyball team at the2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, he was received by Jair Bolsonaro and his son,Eduardo Bolsonaro (PSL), atPalácio do Planalto, in Brasília.[13] On the occasion, Souza presented the politicians with t-shirts of the Brazilian volleyball team.[14] His support for the Bolsonaro family had been known since 2018, when he andWallace de Souza, his national team partner, went viral on the internet after posing for a photo in which they made, with their fingers, the number 17, which represented Bolsonaro in theballot boxes during the2018 Brazilian presidential election.[15]
After his firing for his homophobic comments, Souza joined theLiberal Party in March 2022 to run for the position offederal deputy forMinas Gerais in the2022 election. Souza said that he was running because there was a need for more officials who supported President Jair Bolsonaro.[16] He won by a margin of over 83,000 votes.[17]
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