Investigation into abuse of women by NFL team’s fans

AN INVESTIGATION has begun into an unusual tradition deep in the bowels of Giants Stadium in New York, where hundreds of male American football fans gather at half-time to shout at women to expose themselves.

Though two NFL teams play at the stadium — the New York Giants and New York Jets — only fans of the latter are associated with the spectacle, which occurs during half-time at the pedestrian access ramps. Up to 400 men gather at the ramps and shout at women to expose themselves and those who do not are spat at, abused verbally or have plastic beer bottles thrown at them.

The area is not policed strictly: last Sunday, during a Jets game, several security guards stood near the ramp but did not intervene. One of the guards later said he was not permitted to because of free speech laws.

When a reporter tried to interview two security guards after half-time, he was threatened with arrest.

The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which provides security at Giants Stadium, is aware of the raucous half-time show and a spokesman said that measures, such as blocking access to the gate at half-time, were being considered.

“The problem is you have got to watch four or five hundred people,” he said.

“What do we do, arrest everybody who starts chanting?”

Last Sunday, one male fan expressed his unhappiness with the female fans’ shyness: “I’m very disappointed, because we’re used to seeing a lot.”