Cash-strapped Brazilian football team use shirt numbers to advertise special offers at the local supermarket
Brasileiro Série D side Fluminense de Feira have found a novel way to raise some money
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Brazilian fourth-tier side Fluminense de Feira have taken shirt sponsorship to a whole new level.
Not content with simply featuring sponsor’s logos on their shorts as well as their shirts, the Brasileiro Série D side have started using their shirt numbers to advertise special offers in the local supermarket.
Players now have a product written where their name would usually be printed on the back of their shirts, with conventional numbers replaced with the prices of bargain deals.
So their star striker Fernando Sobral, for example, no longer wars the number 10. Instead he is 10,98 – which is coincidentally the price of a pizza at the local superstore.
Another player wears 20,38 to advertise the cost of shaving cream, while a team-mates shirt displays the price of a bottle of shampoo.
By way of explanation the team’s marketing director, Xiko Melo, said the move was made necessary because the Brazilian Football Confederation does little to support football clubs further down the league pyramid.
“Football is very ungrateful to small teams on this sponsorship issue,” he told local media. “You cannot put together a good team without conditions and having a good team requires resources.
“We had a few sponsors in the beginning, so we decided to have sponsors per game.”
However the shirts haven’t exactly helped matters on the pitch.
Fluminense de Feira lost their first match wearing their new shirts 6-0, to bitter local rivals Vitoria de Bahia.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments