Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva sparked controversy by suggesting that players who play abroad should be excluded from the national team, stating that “there are no stars” outside Brazil.

"Those who are abroad are not better than those here," he said during a radio interview, just a day after Brazil's 2-1 victory over Chile in the World Cup qualifiers, with goals from Luiz Henrique and Igor Jesus, both players from Botafogo in Rio de Janeiro.

Lula mentioned that he recently met with the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and proposed the idea of calling up only players based in Brazil, which would exclude stars like Vinícius, Rodrigo, Militão, and Endrick from Real Madrid, or Raphinha from Barcelona.

According to Lula, there is currently "no Garrincha or Romário" playing in foreign teams, just "a bunch of young players who are not yet stars."

"In Brazil, there are good players of the same quality (as those abroad), so give opportunities to those who are here," the president suggested.

Lula, a supporter of Corinthians from São Paulo, often comments on sports during interviews and has recently been critical of both his team, which is facing relegation, and the national squad.

Brazil’s win over Chile provided some relief after a series of defeats in the World Cup qualifiers against theoretically weaker opponents, such as Paraguay.

With this result, the five-time world champions now sit in fourth place on the table with 13 points, while Chile remains in ninth with five points, outside of the qualification spots.