The Women’s World Cup is receiving dedication from the Brazilian government as work hours are changed in the country to accommodate the national team’s game in Oceania.
Brazil’s group stage matches in Australia and New Zealand are being broadcast in the early hours of the morning due to the time zone differences. So, the Brazilian government minister has announced a change to office hours to allow civil servants an opportunity to watch.
Minister of management Esther Dwech has told civil servants they can report for duty up to two hours after the final whistle.
“On days when the games are held at 7:30 am, the working hours will start at 11 a.m. Brasilia time,” an ordinance read. “On days when the games are held at 8:00 a.m., the working hours will start at 12:00 p.m. Brasilia time.”
The Brazilian team, the Canarinhas, are in Group F and begin their campaign on Monday against Panama in Adelaide before taking on France in Brisbane and Jamaica in Melbourne.
With the working hours changed, there’s an expected absence of many employees on Monday morning to tune into the game.
Brazil’s central bank has even postponed the release of economic output and inflation figures by one day.
While this is the first time the central government has made a change for its civil servants to watch the women’s World Cup, the nation’s working hours already change during the men’s World Cup in both the public and private sector.
Just a few weeks ago, the Brazilian women’s team made headlines for their entrance to the World Cup by landing in Australia on a plane baring tribute to the ongoing women’s rights movement in Iran.
Ranked eighth in the world, the Canarinhas have contested eight World Cups and have one of the greatest players in the history of the game– Marta Vieira da Silva, most well-known as “Marta”.
She has six World Player of the Year awards in her 23-year career, and if she comes off the bench to take the field against Panama on Monday, it would be her sixth and final involvement in the premier competition of women’s football.
Women’s football has come a significant way in Brazil as the sport was illegal in the country until the mid-1980’s. Marta was Brazil’s first women’s football star, which cements her representation and impact on the game.