Richarlyson

Richarlyson began playing football for Ituano, where he won the Copa São Paulo de Juniores. Ricky then moved on to Santo André, a club from the ABC region in Greater São Paulo which his father, the former footballer Lela, has also defended during his playing career. Loaned to Fortaleza and Austrian top flight club Salzburg, the midfielder drew the attention of São Paulo city giants Palmeiras. Concerns about a possible change of his nickname – from his first name, Richarlyson, to his last name, Felisbino – due to the relatively complicated pronounce and spelling, upon Palmeiras' request, made Richarlyson uneasy about joining the club, which culminated in a last-minute decision to instead move to São Paulo, one of Palmeiras' rivals. A court battle between São Paulo and Santo André delayed his debut for the Morumbi club, even after both clubs have reached a settlement. With few opportunities in the main squad, Richarlyson languished until the hiring of the coach Muricy Ramalho. Under the command of Ramalho, Richarlyson went on to have the best phase of his career as a footballer, being an integral part of São Paulo's three Campeonato Brasileiro championships in a row. At the peak of his career, Richarlyson was called by the Brazil national team's coach Dunga for their friendly against Republic of Ireland. The former captain of the Seleção greatly praised Richarlyson's versatility. Richarlyson, despite his success for the club, was a target of constant scrutiny and abuse over…

International

In 2022, Richarlyson came out as bisexual in an interview with the podcast Nos Armários dos Vestiários. This made him the first openly LGBT player to have played for the Brazilian men's national team and in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. In 2023, he cosplayed as a ceramic water filter in the reality singing competition The Masked Singer Brasil.

Defamation grounded on his sexuality

On 25 June 2007, the newspaper Agora São Paulo reported that a football player of a major team would come out of the closet as a homosexual in an exclusive interview for the weekly newsmagazine Fantástico. The following day, Brazilian sports commentator Milton Neves invited the director of Palmeiras football club José Cyrillo Júnior for his live TV show Debate Bola. During the show, Neves asked Cyrillo Jr. if the player who was coming out was from his team. Cyrillo Jr. answered that "Richarlyson was almost taken by Palmeiras". Despite the public and the press overall seeing this as a potential give-away, the player did not comment on the case. The fact that Richarlyson turned down an offer from Palmeiras in the last minute, just before signing for rival São Paulo, put him in loggerheads with former Palmeiras director of football Salvador Hugo Palaia, which raised speculations about the team being homophobic. The rumors proved to be false later. Richarlyson's attorney, Renato Salge, filed a lawsuit against Cyrillo Jr. for damages and defamation. Judge Manoel Maximiano Junqueira Filho…

Santo André

Copa do Brasil: 2004 São Paulo

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2006, 2007, 2008 FIFA Club World Cup: 2005 Atlético Mineiro

Copa Libertadores: 2013 Campeonato Mineiro: 2012, 2013 Individual

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year: 2007 Bola de Prata: 2007