Why some Brazilians won't wear their country's soccer jersey during the World Cup

The canary yellow with bright green trim soccer shirt is probably the most famous. Brazil has won it in all five of their World Cup victories. However, the national colors have been a source of controversy in Brazil since far-right President Jair Bolsonaro adopted them as symbols of his brand of nationalist politics.

Supporters of the president, known as Bolsonaristas, wear jerseys and wrap themselves in the Brazilian flag at marches and rallies in support of their conservative religious, anti-LGBTQ and pro-gun rights messages.

Bolsonaro oversaw a devastating COVID-19 death toll while downplaying the coronavirus pandemic. He reduced Amazon protections, resulting in unprecedented deforestation. And he has attempted to challenge the election results last month after election officials declared victory for his rival, President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The yellow shirt has become the Brazilian equivalent of the red MAGA hat worn by Bolsonaro's ally, former President Donald Trump.

Soccer fan Vanessa Morales says she cannot wear a Selecao shirt during this year's World Cup.

"I'm not going to wear green or yellow," she says, not wanting to be mistaken for one of Bolsonaro's supporters. Instead, she will wear the red and black jersey of her hometown team, Flamengo. "It's unfortunate that one [political] party has dominated our T-shirts."

However, he hopes that when Lula takes office in January, more Brazilians will once again wear the national football jersey.

Supporters of President-elect Lula are selling their own version of the national jersey in bright yellow and green. There is a small image of Lula on the front, and a 13 on the back – the number of his election candidate.

Officials say Brazil's voting system is secure ahead of presidential elections.

Seller Renato Monteiro claims to have sold 20,000 shirts to Lula supporters in the past two months.

"They're buying it because Bolsonaro thought the symbol was his, but it wasn't; it belonged to the people. We saved the symbol of our country" he says from his small stand at a Rio de Janeiro weekend outdoor market.

In a country where soccer is practically a religion, perhaps a time will come when Brazilians can set aside their differences and unite under one color, yellow.

Brazil plays Serbia at 2 PM in Doha. EST (4 p.m. Brazil time), their first of the 2022 World Cup.