Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Sport Club do Recife ask fans' mums to become stewards in bid to stop violence at home games

Brazilian club have trained around 30 mothers, according to the club website

Tom Sheen
Monday 09 February 2015 15:44 GMT
Comments
(Sport Club do Recife)

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 club Sport Club do Recife have attempted to end supporter violence at the club's home games in the most peculiar way - by employing fans' mums to act as stewards.

Around 30 mothers have been trained by the club and made their 'debut' in the derby against Nautico, patrolling the pitch in high-visibility vests bearing the words Seguranca Mae - Security mums.

"The idea was to make the most fanatical supporters aware and help in some way to bring peace to stadiums," Aricio Fortes, vice-president of Ogilvy, the PR company that came up with the idea, told the club website.

"At the end of the day, no one wants to fight in front of a mother, especially his own."

Their presence was highlighted on big screens before and during the game in an attempt to make fans aware of their presence - the strategy appeared to be highly successful with no arrests made after a 1-0 Sport win.

Additional reporting from Reuters

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in