Maurício Souza (volleyball)

Maurício Luiz de Souza (born 29 September 1988) is a Brazilian politician, former volleyball player, member of the Brazil men's national volleyball team, 2016 Olympic Champion, silver medallist of the 2018 World Championship, gold medallist of the 2019 World Cup, three–time South American Champion (2013, 2015, 2017), 2014 Turkish Champion. He was sacked from the Minas Tênis Clube and the national team in October 2021 after sharing a post about Jon Kent, the son of Superman, being revealed to be bisexual.

He later joined the Liberal Party in 2022. He participated as a candidate in the parliamentary elections in the same year, being elected as a federal deputy from the state of Minas Gerais.

Personal life
Maurício Souza is married to Isabella Saldanha Castro and has two children, a girl and a boy.

Statements about homosexuals
Souza has posted homophobic messages on his social 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.

In 2021, Souza criticized the comic character Jonathan Samuel Kent, who in the DC Universe is the son of Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane, for being revealed as bisexual. After a negative reaction, Fiat and Gerdau, sponsors of Minas Tênis Clube, the team the athlete works for, demanded measures from the club's board of directors and repudiated the player's attitude. The sports team then decided to fine and temporarily remove Souza, in addition to stating that "the player's opinions do not represent the beliefs of the partner sports institution" and that he should recant. The organized supporters Independente Minas also released a statement in which it said it "will ignore the athlete Maurício Souza in social networks, games and demonstrations".

After the controversy, Souza published a message of retraction for the statements on his Twitter account. However, on October 27, 2021, the team terminated their contract with him. 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. 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.

Clubs

 * CEV Champions League
 * Silver medal europe.svg 2013/2014 – with Halkbank Ankara
 * CSV South American Club Championship
 * Silver medal southamerica.svg Florianópolis 2009 – with Brasil Vôlei Clube
 * Silver medal southamerica.svg Belo Horizonte 2013 – with Vivo/Minas
 * National championships
 * 2013/2014 Simple gold cup.svg Turkish SuperCup, with Halkbank Ankara
 * 2013/2014 Simple gold cup.svg Turkish Cup, with Halkbank Ankara
 * 2013/2014 Gold medal with cup.svg Turkish Championship, with Halkbank Ankara
 * 2014/2015 Simple gold cup.svg Brazilian Cup, with Vôlei Taubaté
 * 2019/2020 Simple gold cup.svg Brazilian SuperCup, with Vôlei Taubaté
 * 2020/2021 Simple gold cup.svg Brazilian SuperCup, with Vôlei Taubaté

Individual awards

 * 2013: Pan American Cup – Best Middle Blocker
 * 2013: Pan American Cup – Best Blocker
 * 2016: FIVB World League – Best Middle Blocker
 * 2020: CSV South American Club Championship – Best Middle Blocker
 * 2021: FIVB Nations League – Best Middle Blocker

Politics
Souza is a public supporter of Jair Bolsonaro. Shortly after the defeat of the Brazilian volleyball team at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, he was received by Jair Bolsonaro and his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro (PSL), at Palácio do Planalto, in Brasília. On the occasion, Souza presented the politicians with t-shirts of the Brazilian volleyball team. His support for the Bolsonaro family had been known since 2018, when he and Wallace 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 the ballot boxes during the 2018 Brazilian presidential election.

After his firing for his homophobic comments, Souza joined the Liberal Party in March 2022 to run for the position of federal deputy for Minas Gerais in the 2022 election. Souza said that he was running because there was a need for more officials who supported President Jair Bolsonaro. He won by a margin of over 83,000 votes.