Arrests after ‘ambush marketing’ stunt

TWO Dutch women appeared yesterday in a South African court for a brewery publicity stunt that sent 36 women in orange dresses to a World Cup match, sparking furious protests by the Netherlands.

Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen condemned FIFA’s handling of the incident, saying it was “absurd” that the pair had been arrested and charged with organising the so-called “ambush marketing” campaign.

ITV fired one of its football pundits over allegations he had supplied the tickets for the stunt, which happened at Monday’s Netherlands-Denmark match in Johannesburg.

The row began when a group of three dozen women turned up at the game wearing identical orange mini-dresses that were sold with packs of Bavaria beer in the Netherlands.

FIFA says the women wore them as a marketing stunt in defiance of the football governing body’s strict commercial regulations.

The women were detained during the match at Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium and taken to a FIFA office where they say they were questioned for hours.

FIFA said yesterday it did not plan to press charges against the South African women recruited for the stunt, but had filed charges against two Dutch women who it says organised the campaign.

Budweiser, an official sponsor, is the only beer company allowed to advertise within the stadiums. FIFA fiercely protects its marketing interests, which are a major cash spinner for the organisation.

The pair appeared in a Johannesburg court yesterday, where they were freed on €1,000 bail and required to surrender their passports.

They are due to appear back at Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court on June 22.

Verhagen called the arrest and charge a “disproportional reaction”, in a statement released by the Dutch foreign ministry.

“It is absurd that the two women have a jail term hanging over their heads for wearing orange dresses in a football stadium,” Verhagen added. “If South Africa or FIFA wants to take a company to task for an illegal marketing action, they should start judicial procedures against the company and not against ordinary citizens walking around in orange dresses.”

The Dutch embassy in Pretoria has questioned South African authorities about the charge.

Television football pundit Robbie Earle was fired from his job with broadcaster ITV over accusations he had provided company tickets for the stunt.