By ,
Published December 19, 2016
Cut the debauchery.
That's the message being sent to soccer fans in Brazil.
The director of Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro announced new plans on Thursday that include requiring patrons to wear shirts and sit in their seats while watching soccer games.
The new measures declared by João Barba also include a ban on flag poles and percussion instruments within the stadium.
“It would be good for someone who understands soccer and Brazil to administrate this consortium,” Guilherme Augusto said on Twitter in reaction to the announcement.
The new rules “are meant to safeguard the comfort, security and accessibility of the fans,” BBC News reported. One of the safety concerns is that if fans insist on standing to watch the game, they might break stadium seats.
No such thing, one fan retorted.
“The prohibition of flags in Maracanã doesn’t have a connection with violence,” Bruno Formiga tweeted, refuting Borba’s reasoning. “It’s for the visibility of those who paid a lot. It makes sense.”
Borba said that the Wimbledon tennis tournament inspired him to make some of the changes.
“Last weekend I went to the tennis finals at Wimbledon, and on the invitation, it was written that it isn’t recommended to go with a certain clothing,” Borba said, according to the Brazilian newspaper, O Globo. “When a Brit reads ‘not recommended,’ it’s understood that he should not wear that type of clothing.”
In order to ensure that fans adopt this new style of cheering and all new rules are followed, Borba said that the entire stadium, from entrances to every seat in the house, will be monitored by cameras.
“If all goes well, this prohibition of flags and instruments in Maracanã will be that kind of law that ‘doesn’t catch on’,” Eduardo Tironi, another Brazilian fan, tweeted.
Maracanã was originally built for the 1950 FIFA World Cup and has been undergoing a $450 million renovation in order to host seven games in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, including the final match on July 13.
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