Brazilian club asks fans to give blood
Reuters - Monday 02 July 2012, 21:39
Brazilian football club
Vitoria has removed its trademark red hoops from its shirt and
told supporters it will add the colour back gradually as fans
donate blood.
The campaign, entitled "My Blood is Red and Black", is named
after the club's traditional colours and comes amid a nationwide
drive to get more Brazilians to give blood for transfusions.
"We wanted to do more than just ask fans to give blood,"
said Vitoria's president Alexi Portela Junior. "With this
initiative, fans of the red and black can participate more
actively in the campaign and they will see the importance of a
gesture like this that can help save countless lives."
The club normally plays in a red-and-black hooped shirt,
with white shorts and red-and-black socks. At its most recent
game, players wearing black-and-white hooped shirts carried a
banner onto the field reading: "Vitoria has always given its
blood for you. It's time for you to give yours."
Portela Junior said the club plans to add a red hoop back
after each game, starting with next weekend's match. The club
has four red and four black hoops on its jersey.
"In this novel way we are making our fans aware of the
importance of giving blood," Portela Junior said.
The campaign comes just a few weeks after Sao Paulo, one of
Brazil's biggest clubs, put the slogan "Give Blood" on its
shirts for a game.
Brazil's Health Ministry and blood banks often launch
campaigns during school holidays as donations fall by as much as
25 percent. Officials said that although Brazil has invested
heavily in the area, only around two percent of Brazilians give
blood regularly. The World Health Organization recommends that
number should be three percent.
Vitoria, which is based in Salvador in the northeastern
state of Bahia, was founded in 1899 and is one of Brazil's
oldest clubs. It is famous for having launched the careers of
World Cup winners Bebeto and Vampeta, and current Chelsea
defender David Luiz.
It currently sits in fourth place in the Serie B after eight
games and is one of the favourites to gain promotion. The give
blood campaign already seems to have brought them luck on the
pitch. In their first red-less shirt, they beat Avai 2-0.