FREIBURG, Germany (AFX) - It was an orange outfit that could not get past the World Cup censors.
Heading into the stadium for the Netherlands-Ivory Coast match late Friday, some Dutch fans had to take off orange pants equipped with a special lion's tail because it was used as an advertising gimmick by a non-World Cup sponsor.
A Dutch beermaker, Bavaria NV, has tried to market orange lederhosen with its name printed on it as an advertising gimmick for the World Cup, while Heineken is the team's official sponsor.
There were reports that hundreds of fans had to enter the stadium in underpants because stadium officials forced them to leave the orange lederhosen behind. Dutch federation spokesman Frank Huizinga said that was grossly exaggerated.
'We are talking about a very limited amount of people who wanted to wear this,' he said. 'Let's not exaggerate this.'
Several fans in the orange pants with the tail were seen outside the stadium, but almost all also had normal pants on under the hose.
No large groups of Dutch fans in underwear were visible among the 52,000 at the Stuttgart stadium, although one fan had ripped off the lion's tail and gladly waved it in public. The lion is the country's national emblem.
Huizinga said the action was taken by FIFA, which has long tried to counter ambush marketing at its premier event.
FIFA said Saturday certain measures had to be taken to contain such marketing.
'We are not going to tell individuals what to wear, everyone is free to wear what they want,' said FIFA spokesman Markus Siegler. 'But if we have evidence there is a company behind this, and 100,000 people are being equipped accordingly, and there is a visible ambush on the television screens, then we have to take action.'
Dutch soccer fans traditionally don all things orange before games of their beloved 'Oranje.'
Bavaria said it had already received complaints because fans could not wear the pants at games during the Dutch preparation campaign.
The World Cup is one of the hottest advertising events in the world, and spats between official sponsors and others hoping to cash in are common.
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