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Government-Backed 'La Niña Futbolista' Draws Widespread Online Backlash

The backlash highlights a clash between state cultural messaging versus public demand for concrete funding for women’s sport.

Overview

  • The Secretaría de Cultura presented Julieta Venegas’s adaptation of 'La niña futbolista' at a conference led by President Claudia Sheinbaum as part of World Cup 2026 cultural programming.
  • The official video exceeded 1.5 million views on YouTube but had comments disabled after intense negative reaction spread across X, TikTok, Instagram and other channels.
  • Julieta Venegas defended the song as an attempt to inspire girls and adolescents to pursue sport despite prejudice.
  • Actor Julio Camejo and other critics said the lyric changes and tone were misguided and shifted the debate toward calls for tangible investment and support for women’s athletics.
  • The version reworks a 2003 Patita de Perro song, and the controversy has produced memes, parodies and, according to one report, a decision by Venegas’s team to not perform the track live or include it in her compilations.