🚨 Statement from the Portuguese Football Federation:
The Portuguese Football Federation clarifies that the updated visual identity published today on its website refers exclusively to the Federation’s institutional and commercial visual identity as part of the process of unifying and coordinating the visual identity among the various entities that make up the Portuguese Football Federation ecosystem.
At no point has any change to the national team’s crest been considered. The symbol that our players proudly wear on their chests represents an entire nation and it has been and will remain an untouchable symbol.
Tomorrow, as always, we will do everything possible to honour this crest. 🇵🇹
Há símbolos que não pertencem a uma geração, a uma direção, a uma marca ou a uma estratégia de marketing.
Pertencem a um povo.
Alterar o emblema da nossa Seleção Nacional sem ouvir os portugueses é desrespeitar a nossa história, a nossa identidade e os valores que nos unem há gerações.
Um símbolo não é um logótipo.
É memória, orgulho, sacrifício e pertença. É de TODOS!!
Portugal merece ser ouvido…
Porque os verdadeiros donos destes símbolos somos nós: os PORTUGUESES!!
🇵🇹
#Portugal
#Vergonha
#Historia
#SeleçaoPortuguesa
#Juntos
Tae no weverse
🐯: Sou verdadeiramente grato por vocês quererem nos receber e apoiar, mas, se possível, ficaria grato se pudessem evitar vir à frente do nosso hotel. Uma das razões é que não quero compartilhar onde estamos hospedados, e isso também pode afetar meu estado para a apresentação, então peço sua compreensão. Além disso, enquanto estou em turnê, o tempo que tenho para visitar bons restaurantes, passear e aproveitar confortavelmente o país é muito precioso para mim. Então, daqui para frente, espero que vocês não venham mais à frente do nosso hotel. Peço gentilmente sua consideração.
There’s a lot to unpack here, and I’m going to say it directly. I dont care if I get cancelled but this needs to be said.
For years, BTS were told they weren’t big enough, mainstream enough, or "Grammy material." Then they became one of the biggest acts in the world. They broke records, sold out stadiums across continents, topped charts repeatedly, and built a global cultural impact that few artists in history can match.
And when they became too successful to ignore?
The Grammys nominated "Dynamite" and "Butter"—both English-language songs.
Let that sink in.
The songs that got BTS into the major Grammy conversation were the songs that fit most comfortably into the Western industry framework. Yet BTS's discography is filled with critically acclaimed Korean-language music that has had enormous cultural and artistic impact.
Now we have a "Best Asian Pop Music Performance" category.
And before anyone calls that progress, let's ask the obvious question: why does there need to be a separate category at all?
If Asian artists are good enough to dominate global charts, sell millions of records, headline festivals, influence culture worldwide, and compete with every major artist in the industry, then they are good enough for the same categories as everyone else.
Inclusion isn't creating a separate lane after Asian artists prove they can win in the existing ones.
Inclusion is treating them as equals.
That's why BTS's lyrics in "Aliens" hit so hard:
"어쩜 그래 shameless
예의를 차려 we aliens
해는 동쪽에서 risin'
Aliens, aliens"
No matter how successful some artists become, there are still systems and institutions that treat them as perpetual outsiders.
And that's exactly why this conversation matters.
Because when BTS were impossible to ignore, the response shouldn't have been to create another box and place Asian artists inside it. The response should have been to judge them by the same standards as every other artist competing for the biggest awards in music.
ARMYs, we have a mission.
Talk about Arirang everywhere. Put it in AOTY conversations. Put it in ROTY conversations. Write threads. Make edits. Share analyses. Start discussions.
If we believe it deserves those nominations, then let's make enough noise that nobody can pretend it doesn't belong in the room.
They ignored BTS until they couldn't.
Let's make sure they can't ignore Arirang either.