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Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro in Italian football colours


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Days before England play Italy in their first match at the World Cup, the Italians are in hot water in Brazil for a television commercial in which Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Christ the Redeemer statue is dressed in a giant Italian football shirt

 

 

 

By Nick Squires, in Rome

12:31PM BST 09 Jun 2014

 

 

 

Days before England play Italy in their first match at the World Cup, the Italians are in hot water in Brazil for a television commercial in which Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Christ the Redeemer statue is dressed in a giant Italian football shirt.

 

The Catholic Church in Brazil says the digitally-manipulated advertisement, which is running as a trailer for the competition on Italy’s state broadcaster, Rai, is disrespectful and inappropriate.

 

The 30-second video shows children dressed in the blue shirt of the “Azzurri” (Italy’s national team) scoring goals during games of street football and ends with an image of the towering statue of Christ wearing a number 10 shirt with the word “Italia” written across the shoulders. “Brazil awaits us”, the advertisement says.

 

The Archdiocese of Rio has threatened to sue the Italian broadcaster for between 15 and 21 million real (£4 million - £6 million.....$6,718 - $10,078M) in damages, promising to give the money to charity if it wins the case.

 

“The Archdiocese is deeply offended,” Rodrigo Grazioli, a lawyer for the Brazilian Church, told O Globo newspaper.

 

 

“It’s as if Brazilian TV were to make a commercial in which mulatto girls engaged in lewd behaviour with the gladiators of the Colosseum.”

 

It is not the first time the Catholic Church has clashed with the advertising world over the Christ statue, an instantly recognisable symbol of Rio which looms over its bays and beaches.

 

During the 1998 World Cup in France, the Pirelli tyre company ran a campaign in which Ronaldo, the Brazilian footballer, replaced the figure of Christ, towering over the city in a blue and black Inter Milan strip.

 

In the commercial, Ronaldo appeared with his arms outstretched and one leg raised, with the sole of his foot covered in Pirelli tyre tread.

 

“Power is nothing without control,” was the message of the commercial, which also proved controversial with the Catholic Church.

Video courtesy RAI

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/10886269/World-Cup-2014-Brazil-furious-over-Christ-the-Redeemer-statue-in-Rio-de-Janeiro-in-Italian-football-colours.html

 

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