Brazil and Haiti plan tickets-for-arms friendly
Monday, July 12, 2004
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP): 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 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 August 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 has 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, are 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 Aristide fleeing into exile.
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