Brazil make uniform change
2008-08-09 21:54
Shenyang - Brazil will not wear its regular official Nike uniform for the remainder of the Beijing Games because of concerns it could affect Rio de Janeiro's bid for the 2016 Olympics, the country's football confederation said on Saturday.
Rules of the International Olympic Committee say that nations should not wear confederations' emblems on uniforms during the games, and Brazil's Nike jersey has the football confederation badge on it.
"The president of the Brazilian football confederation, Ricardo Teixeira, accepted the Brazilian Olympic Committee's request that the Olympic team did not wear the official jersey because it would blemish Brazil's bid to host the 2016 Olympics," the confederation said in a statement.
Rio de Janeiro is a finalist to host the games along with Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid, Spain. The IOC will select the host city in October 2009.
"The IOC determines that we shouldn't use any national identification in the jersey, only the colors of the country and the Olympic arcs," Brazil sports minister Orlando Silva said in Shenyang. "We are abiding by this decision."
Brazil will still wear a Nike jersey, but without the confederation's badge.
"Teixeira decided to accept the committee's request to avoid any embarrassment or inconveniences to the city's bid for 2016," the confederation statement said.
Brazil's national teams are sponsored by Nike, but the Brazilian Olympic delegation is sponsored by Olympikus, which was not happy that the football squads used uniforms from one of its competitors.
The Brazilian committee had said before the games that it would not be in the nation's best interests to have one of its Olympic teams wearing different uniforms.
The Brazilian women's team was the first to drop the official jersey, wearing one without the confederation logo in its 2-1 win over North Korea on Saturday at Shenyang Olympic Stadium. The men's team will do the same against New Zealand on Sunday, also in Shenyang.
Neither squad has ever won the Olympic gold medal for Brazil in football.
The Brazilian women lost the final of the 2004 Athens Olympics to the United States. It also was fourth in Sydney in 2000 and in Atlanta in 1996, when women's football began at the Olympics.
The men's team won the silver medal twice, in 1984 in Los Angeles and 1988 in Seoul. It won the bronze in 1996 in Atlanta.
"All the players and the Brazilian people are proud of the jersey with the five stars on it," said Ronaldinho, referring to the uniform's emblem which reflects the team's five world titles in men's football. "We could still wear it, but if it gets in the way of Brazil's bid to host the 2016 Olympics, we have to understand it and accept it."
Brazil will host the 2014 Soccer World Cup.
- AP