FIFA Order Leaves Dutch Fans Doing a "Goleo"
June 18, 2006FIFA confirmed on Saturday they had ordered hundreds of Dutch fans to take off their trousers before entering the stadium for their country's World Cup match against Ivory Coast on Friday.
The fans at the match in Stuttgart were wearing dungarees in the orange of the Dutch team bearing the logo of a Dutch beer company which is not one of the World Cup official sponsors. The fans watched Holland's 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast in their underpants.
FIFA said the clothing was an attempt at so-called ambush marketing.
"Anyone can wear whatever they want, but if a company tries to carry out ambush marketing, FIFA must prevent that happening," FIFA communications director Markus Siegler said at the daily World Cup press briefing.
"In common with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and UEFA, we do not tell individual supporters what to wear, but I will remind you that FIFA has already won a court case against a beer manufacturer who tried this sort of thing."
American beer Budweiser and Germany's Bitburger are the only beers allowed to be sold in the 12 World Cup stadiums.