Veteran leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the front-runner to unseat far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in a presidential runoff this month, thanked Brazilian football legend Rai for backing him on Monday at the Ballon d'Or awards.
Rai, who helped Brazil to the 1994 World Cup trophy, gave Lula a silent shout-out at the gala awards ceremony for football's greatest in Paris, mentioning his country's elections before flashing an "L" sign with his right hand.
"Thank you, Rai. I was watching," Lula wrote on Twitter.
Lula, who led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, is seeking a presidential comeback in a polarizing 30 October runoff against Bolsonaro.
The ex-president finished ahead in the first-round election on 2 October with 48 per cent of the vote, to 43 per cent for the incumbent.
Rai, a star at Paris Saint-Germain in the 1990s, took the stage at the glittering Ballon d'Or ceremony to present the inaugural Socrates award, named for his late older brother, a fellow football legend who died in 2011.
The award recognises footballers involved in social causes, like Socrates, a midfielder at Sao Paulo side Corinthians who helped push the fight for democracy during Brazil's 1964-1985 military dictatorship.
"Socrates represents the ideals of a more just, humane world, the values of democracy," said the tuxedo-clad Rai, 57.
"We're also thinking of my country, which is going to have a decision to make for a better world at the end of the month. We all know which side Socrates would be on," he said, before flashing the "L" with a smile and a wink – widely used as a pro-Lula symbol in Brazil.
Bolsonaro meanwhile has the country's biggest present-day star in his camp: PSG and Brazil striker Neymar endorsed the incumbent in a TikTok video on the eve of the first-round election.
The Socrates award went to Senegal and Bayern Munich striker Sadio Mane.
France and Real Madrid star Karim Benzema scooped the men's Ballon d'Or, and Spain's Alexia Putellas the women's.