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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
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(Sport Club do Recife)

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

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