Tensions soar as Dunga shuts media
Source: Agencies |
June 24, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
BRAZIL is probably the only major soccer-playing country where reporters can join in goal celebrations and interview players as they fight on the pitch.
Dozens of television and radio reporters stand on the touchlines at games in Brazil, interviewing players seconds before kick-off, at halftime and when they are storm off the pitch after being shown a red card. If a fight breaks out, they run onto the pitch and try and get a few quick quotes.
For the hundreds of Brazilian reporters who are sent to the World Cup, the set-up, with no pitch access, can be a shock. They have, however, traditionally enjoyed access to players which colleagues from other countries can only dream of.
Even at the height of a World Cup, Brazil would organize a daily "mixed zone" in which the players would walk alongside a barrier on their way back to the team bus, answering questions from the several-hundred strong media pack on the other side of the fence.
This World Cup, however, has been completely different.
Coach Dunga has replaced the sacred mixed zone with a daily conference in which two selected players trot out the usual cliches to a room of 400 reporters. He has even done the unthinkable and restricted access to training sessions - often broadcast live in Brazil.
The new policy has been especially tough on radio reporters who have hours of air time to fill. Radio is still hugely important in Brazil, where many people still do not have internet access.
Tensions
This has led to tensions between the media and the team, especially as Dunga has included the powerful Globo television network - Brazil's rights holders - in his clampdown. Four years ago, players would give exclusive interviews to Globo but now it is treated the same as everyone else.
Brazilian media claimed Dunga was heard to swear against a Globo journalist. The network now only refers to Dunga as "coach of the Brazilian national team".
There was another exchange when playmaker Kaka claimed that he was being criticized by outspoken columnist Juca Kfouri because of his religious beliefs.
After being asked a question by Kfouri's son Andre, also a journalist, he said: "Your father is taking pot shots at me because of my faith. I ask that he respects me and the millions of people who believe in Jesus Christ."
Brazil's 2002 World Cup winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari suggested a truce. "In the World Cup, we have to put up with each other," he said. "The best thing is to work together, and when the World Cup finishes, each side can tell the other to go to hell."
Dozens of television and radio reporters stand on the touchlines at games in Brazil, interviewing players seconds before kick-off, at halftime and when they are storm off the pitch after being shown a red card. If a fight breaks out, they run onto the pitch and try and get a few quick quotes.
For the hundreds of Brazilian reporters who are sent to the World Cup, the set-up, with no pitch access, can be a shock. They have, however, traditionally enjoyed access to players which colleagues from other countries can only dream of.
Even at the height of a World Cup, Brazil would organize a daily "mixed zone" in which the players would walk alongside a barrier on their way back to the team bus, answering questions from the several-hundred strong media pack on the other side of the fence.
This World Cup, however, has been completely different.
Coach Dunga has replaced the sacred mixed zone with a daily conference in which two selected players trot out the usual cliches to a room of 400 reporters. He has even done the unthinkable and restricted access to training sessions - often broadcast live in Brazil.
The new policy has been especially tough on radio reporters who have hours of air time to fill. Radio is still hugely important in Brazil, where many people still do not have internet access.
Tensions
This has led to tensions between the media and the team, especially as Dunga has included the powerful Globo television network - Brazil's rights holders - in his clampdown. Four years ago, players would give exclusive interviews to Globo but now it is treated the same as everyone else.
Brazilian media claimed Dunga was heard to swear against a Globo journalist. The network now only refers to Dunga as "coach of the Brazilian national team".
There was another exchange when playmaker Kaka claimed that he was being criticized by outspoken columnist Juca Kfouri because of his religious beliefs.
After being asked a question by Kfouri's son Andre, also a journalist, he said: "Your father is taking pot shots at me because of my faith. I ask that he respects me and the millions of people who believe in Jesus Christ."
Brazil's 2002 World Cup winning coach Luiz Felipe Scolari suggested a truce. "In the World Cup, we have to put up with each other," he said. "The best thing is to work together, and when the World Cup finishes, each side can tell the other to go to hell."
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