There is a say that soccer lives in the blood of Brazilians, and this is true in many senses too. Perhaps, Brazilians are also known to retaliate heavily when their team or favorite players perform unexpectedly bad on the field. Palmeiras, based in São Paulo, is among topmost soccer clubs in Brazil, and possibly it is the most successful club in Brazilian history with as many as 11 national titles. In many ways, a win has a special value for Palmeiras and its fans. But things have changed quickly than we think, and record wise; it’s the second time in last ten Brasileiro seasons that Palmeiras has been downgraded. In current season too, they are at seven points distance from safety and only four matches are left for it. Fans are so angry with their once top soccer club that they are continuously threatening players by making calls, displaying banners, and, etc. In the last match against Botafogo, Palmeiras could only manage to end it with a draw which made its fan agree too; perhaps they collided with the police on field itself.
Club director Cesar Sampaio, who has been a Palmeiras idol, said on the threats, “We don’t know if these threats are for real or not, but we are being careful. We’ve been talking to the players to try to keep them from losing it emotionally. It’s important to keep our calm in a moment like this.” Security is a concern not only for Brazilian native players but foreign players as well, like Argentine striker Hernan Barcos, who is a part of Palmeiras and fired as many as 27 goals, is seriously thinking to leave Brazil if there is no security for players. Moreover, Brazilian Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo has also condemned rising complaints of such threats. He said, “It’s inadmissible to have threats from fans against players of any club,” he said. “There is no place for that in soccer. It’s unacceptable.”
This is not the first time; Palmeiras players are facing these kinds of things, coz earlier this year, its vice president’s restaurant was also ransacked by fans after club’s defeat from Corinthians. In another case, some fans damaged a portion of Pacaembu Stadium after a defeat. Basically, all these violence cases are coz of shoddy preference of club which has always been the finest soccer club in the country. Anyways, let’s see when these fans will understand that a game is a game, enjoy it no matter who wins or loses.