FIFA World Cup: Fans, 'Lovers' Invade Training Areas to Meet Stars
FIFA World Cup has had a tough time dealing with people who are desperate to meet their football heroes. Some like Andressa Urach have even claimed to have had a love affair with the stars.
A "Miss BumBum" who claims she slept with Cristiano Ronaldo, a Chilean stadium invasion and a Lionel Messi fan who snuck into Argentina's training camp cast an unflattering spotlight on World Cup security on Wednesday.
Just when Brazil was soaking up praise for a relatively snag-free tournament the three security breaches gave organizers some of their most embarrassing moments yet and prompted football's world governing body FIFA to reassess its measures.
First, the Miss BumBum incident.
Andressa Urach, a former contestant in a pageant to choose Brazil's sexiest female posterior, was frog-marched out of Portugal's training ground by security staff just minutes before Ronaldo and his team took to the pitch.
Urach and the world player of the year have something of a history -- or so says Urach.
© AFP
British newspapers last year reported claims from her that Ronaldo, 29, had cheated on his girlfriend Irina Shayk with her.
At the time, the Portuguese superstar angrily denied the claims, tweeting that he was "deeply outraged by a situation intended, in vain, to affect my personal life."
Urach, a co-host on a Brazilian variety program called the Muito Show, has been determined to get Ronaldo's attention at the World Cup.
Last week she reportedly welcomed him to Campinas, the southeast Brazilian city where Portugal are based, by painting his green and red shirt onto her naked skin and holding up a sign that said "Kisses C. Ronaldo."
She appeared to be planning another media stunt Wednesday. She had a microphone in her hand and was apparently wearing official accreditation.
But, surrounded by a knot of photographers, she was unceremoniously ushered from the premises.
After the incident, she tweeted: "I came to give good luck to C7 (Ronaldo) and was removed from the pitch and they took away my press credentials.
"Where is the freedom of expression?"
Soon after Urach's ejection came news that Brazilian security services had detained a man who sneaked into Argentina's training camp in Belo Horizonte to seek star striker Messi's autograph.
The 33-year-old Brazilian, who had received a t-shirt from Messi last week after cleaning his boots, was seen crying as he was led away.
He told police he just wanted to get the shirt signed.
- Chilean invasion -
Organizers' security woes only got worse when scores of ticketless Chilean fans gate-crashed Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium, breaking through fences in a desperate rush to see their team play Spain.
The fans, many wearing Chile's red jersey, shattered a glass door at the media center, broke fences and partition walls, and swarmed into internal corridors before security guards stopped them.
Brazilian authorities arrested 85 people and ordered them to leave the country.
FIFA said none of the intruders had made it into the stands to see their team's stunning 2-0 victory, which put Chile into the second round and sent defending champions Spain packing.
But a security guard said some had found their way into the stands.
The incident took place despite the presence of 1,500 security staff at the stadium, plus about 5,000 police on duty in the surrounding area, a security guard told AFP.
Afterwards FIFA said it would soon announce new security measures.
It is the second time this week that fans have broken into the iconic Maracana Stadium, which will host the July 13 final.
On Sunday a group of fans in Argentina colors smashed through an entry gate ahead of the Argentina-Bosnia game.
Nine people were arrested after that incident.
Other fans have been more crafty sneaking their way in.
Four Argentine fans got into last Thursday's opening game between Brazil and Croatia by convincing a receptionist at a five-star hotel that they were representatives of an international company with commercial links to FIFA.
The woman, without asking many questions, handed them VIP tickets to the game -- where they took pictures of themselves with Brazilian football legend Ronaldo, which they later showed to AFP.
But in a victory for security guards, they were thrown out when the flip-flops they were wearing gave them away.