fluid gender who played qualifiers for two men’s World Cups

Although, unlike children’s stories, we can rarely find morals in the bad things that happen to us in life, sometimes even the most humiliating defeats allow us to find something good, as in the case of Jaiyah Saelua, who joined the worst soccer team in the world to make history as the first person who does not identify as male to be accepted by FIFA for its men’s tournaments. His life has now reached Argentine cinemas.

Jaiyah (35) is a person feminine Samoan, a term that could be translated as “in the manner of a woman”, but which is not easily understood by the West. It is a kind of “third gender” that has existed for thousands of years in Polynesian culture and is present in all its villages.

Although there are no official figures, Thousands of fa’afafine people are believed to exist today on the islands of Samoa, located halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii.. A fa’afafine person can maintain an emotional and sexual bond with both male and female partners (which can sometimes determine whether one is feminine o breastfeedinganother fluid term) and does not show a single clothing pattern.

And while it is tempting to try to find Western equivalences, such as the labels “non-binary person” or “trans”, the truth is that identity feminine It is part of the way of life of that particular culture and it is impossible to think of its reduction to globalized categories without removing its essence. In order to begin to understand this population, it is essential to think beyond the European and Christian frameworks that are at the basis of our own vision of the world.

It was precisely this restricted vision of humanity, and a great ambition to increase dominance over foreign territories, which caused the West to have, over the centuries, a hostile link with Samoan culture: There are numerous testimonies of the humiliation and ridicule that the Fa’afafine people suffered in the era of explorers and missionaries., which worsened throughout the colony. However, Thanks to its resilience, it is today a living and expanding community.

It is precisely these characteristics that perfectly describe Jaiyah, who was born in Pago Pago, capital of American Samoa, in 1988, and who He has been playing soccer since he was 11. Her talent made her stand out on a local team and caught the attention of Nicky Salapu, who called her up to play in a professional league when she was 15 years old.

Salapu was an archer and He became world famous on April 11, 2001, when Samoa – where he was a saver – lost 31 to 0 against Australia in the qualifiers for the 2002 South Korea-Japan World Cup. The defeat, which remains the largest in the history of football between national teams, became a source of shame for Samoa and, especially, for Salapu.

The match remained as a black mark, not only for sport in his country but for the entire nation. Stuck in last place in the world rankings, no one wanted to take charge of the Samoan team until Thomas Rongen, a Dutch nationalized American, decided to move away to leave behind his own tragedy, the death of one of his daughters.

By touring the different teams on the island, Rongen was fascinated by the talent of Jaiyah, who became not only the first fa’afafine but the first person who does not identify as male to play in two World Cup qualifiers. of men (for Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010).

The journey of that selection is the focus of Goal wins, film that has just been released in the country. The director is New Zealander Taika Waititi, director of the Thor saga and Oscar winner for the script of JoJo Rabbit.

In dialogue with Viva, Jaiyah Saelua underlined the social importance of football: “It is capable of positively transforming society. “It can bring people together like nothing else.”

“It is the largest sport in the world and the most organized: if you take FIFA alone, you will find more than 200 associations! The most incredible thing is that soccer is for everyone, it doesn’t matter what resources your society has, just a ball is enough to play it.. And that unites those who have a lot of money, those who have little, those who know a lot, those who know little, men, women, people from the LGTBIQ community… anyone can play soccer in this world!”he completed, enthusiastically.

An icon of diversity worldwide, Jaiyah also has the weight of being a kind of living embassy of Samoa: “It’s really tiring to have to tell my story and explain my identity over and over again! But I do it with pleasure because I believe it can contribute to making the world a better place and make it more inclusive of people like me. Being able to have a platform like this film so that not only me and my culture can be known, but also the fa’afafine people in general, is incredible and I can’t stop giving thanks.!”.

And things are not always rosy. In fact, Samoa is, in many ways, a much more conservative country than, for example, Argentina: sexual relations between men are still prohibited by law and it is frowned upon for someone to have the appearance or wear clothing of a gender that does not belong to them. corresponds. However, no one questions or segregates people feminine, because they represent your own identity

Despite being recognized, people feminine They also live the weight of the roles that society assigns to each gender. For example, They are usually expected to do care tasks, such as cleaning the house, or physically transporting fruits such as coconuts, but they are rarely considered for leadership roles..

Que Jaiyah (central steering wheel of the Ilaoa and To’omata SC) being able to escape that stereotype to dedicate himself to football is an achievement in itself, something that reflects very well Goal wins, where his role is played by Kaimana, also a person feminine.

And although the film takes some plot liberties to tell its story, Jaiyah remained close to the production: “There are not too many differences between me and the character. What I always sought was to be faithful to my ideas and my passion, supporting my team and my community.”.

Thus, while today Jaiyah Saelua officially works at FIFA carrying out actions to incorporate and make visible historically relegated populations, such as gay, trans and non-binary people, in sport she also wants to tell her story in her own words: “It has been at least four years since I want to write a book and I have some friends who are helping me with that. “I think the time has finally come,” he anticipates.