Dutch Fans Forced to Watch the World Cup in their Underpants
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Over the past couple of months, over a quarter million Dutch soccer fans purchased a pair of patriotic orange lederhosen, which carry the name of the Dutch Beer Bavaria. The fans wear these pants whenever Holland plays in the World Cup.
When Dutch fans arrived on Friday to watch their team play against the Ivory Coast, FIFA official refused to allow these fans into the stadium where pants with the word Bavaria on them. Why? Because Bavaria is not an official World Cup sponsor.
Stadium officials in Stuttgart made the supporters take their trousers off - leaving many of them to watch Holland's 2-1 victory in their underpants. "They put our trousers in the bin," said an aggrieved Peer Swinkels, the chairman of Bavaria, Holland's second biggest brewery. "Fans going into the stadium had to dump them in a big container. Fifa said that the supporters could get them back afterwards. But the container was full of rubbish so most people didn't bother. I understand that FIFA wants to protect its sponsors. But this is very strange."
Source
Date
Mon 06/19/06, 7:09 am EST
