The ballot and the ball: Abdalá Bucaram, Barcelona SC, and the intersection of populism and machismo in Ecuadorian football club presidencies

During the 1996 presidential campaign in Ecuador, Abdalá Bucaram used the football catchphrase “Un solo toque” (“Only one touch”) to connect politics and sport. This paper argues that Bucaram’s leadership of Barcelona SC exemplified the populist tendencies that permeated Ecuadorian politics and football in the 1990s, albeit in an exaggerated form. His unique trajectory—rising first to the presidency of the nation before leading Ecuador’s most popular football club—differed markedly from similar cases in Ecuador, South America, and Europe. By examining Bucaram’s unconventional path, this study contributes to a broader typology of football leaders and explores how his leadership reflected the deep intertwining of sport, populism, and political ambition.