Historically, the
different regions of the football world employed different methods of
suspending the goal nets. In England and the Low Countries, full-support
stanchions or “A-frames” were favoured. In Central Europe, triangular “elbows”
or “Continental D” supports were preferred. In South America, “L-supports” were
the method of choice.
In recent years,
however, there has been a worldwide movement towards a uniform method of goal
net suspension, the free-hanging box goal net as first seen on the global
football stage at FIFA World Cup 1974 in West Germany.
While modern, and
safe for players, we believe the global adoption of this method of suspension
has led to a loss of local and national identity.
The respected
football author Jonathan Wilson has written that, “If you’d shown me a photo of
a net in the mid Eighties, I could have told you the ground,” but regrets that,
“Globalisation has led to homogeneity,” and “Now… if you showed me a photo of a
net it could be anywhere.”
The method of
suspending the goal nets with “L-supports” – as seen at the 1950 World Cup final
at Estadio do Maracana in Rio de Janeiro and at FIFA World Cup 1978 in
Argentina – are local to South America and are as Brazilian as Pele, yellow
shirts and blue shorts.
Please sign the petition
and demand FIFA World Cup 2014 respects the traditions of the South American
football region in general and Brazil in particular, and promotes the regional
and national identity by installing the “L-supports” method of goal net
suspension at each of the stadia at the World Cup finals in Brazil.
Thank you.
