Brazil and Haiti plan tickets-for-arms match
SAO PAULO: Brazil are planning an international friendly against Haiti next month to help reduce the number of unauthorised arms in circulation on the streets of the troubled Caribbean nation.
Instead of an entry fee, Haitians will be able to watch the match at the Sylvio Cator Stadium in Port-au-Prince by handing in weapons in their possession, local press reported here on Saturday.
“It’ll only be a question of an exchange (of arms), there’ll be no (ticket) sales,” the Brazilian football federation (CBF) president Ricardo Teixeira confirmed.
The handing in of weapons is planned to take place a week before the game on Aug 18 to reduce the risk of any violence on match day, Teixeira added.
The only stumbling block to the encounter is the state of the 20,000-seater ground and especially its pitch but according to Teixeira the CBF have agreed to pay for the laying down of an artificial surface.
For security reasons World Cup winners Brazil, who are set to field their best players, will only arrive in Haiti the day of the game.
The idea of the friendly was first raised by the Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue in May.
Brazil, with 1,200 soldiers in place, is in charge of the United Nations stabilisation force which arrived last month to help restore peace after the February rebellion which resulted in Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Arisiide fleeing into exile. – AFP
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