When the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles meet Friday night (8:15 p.m. ET; Peacock) at the Neo Química Arena in Brazil for the NFL’s first game in South America, the color green will be a hot topic.
The reason for this is that Neo Química Arena is home to Corinthians football club, a club that hates green due to the rivalry with Palmeiras that has existed for more than a century.
When the NFL announced that the teams would be going to São Paulo and playing at the Neo Química Arena, there was talk about Corinthians, that neither team would wear green for the game. Some believed this was because of the football rivalry, while others, like Packers running back Josh Jacobs, claimed it had to do with gangs.
The league quickly denied the rumors, saying the color ban in effect for the football team would not affect the Packers’ and Eagles’ apparel.
As the home team for the game, the Eagles will play into the Corinthians fan support by wearing black helmets, white jerseys and black pants — the same colors as the football team. The “visiting” Packers will wear their traditional white, yellow and green jerseys with yellow helmets and yellow pants
“We thought the uniform combination that we had never worn before was a unique nod to them, and it caused us to get rid of the green jersey,” Eagles assistant general manager Jon Ferrari said, via PHLY’s Jon Berman. “I wouldn’t say we were prohibited from wearing the green jersey, anything like that. … The uniqueness of the game, the uniqueness of the color combination was what drove that decision.”
This week, however, there was a misstep when Corinthians’ Jaire Alexander and Hugo Souza swapped jerseys, with the Packers cornerback handing the goalie a green Packers jersey.
That did not go down well with some Corinthians fans, as Palmeiras fans have voted the Packers as their team for Friday night and will wear green amid the expected crowd of 42,000.
How seriously do Corinthians and its fans take the issue of the colour green? Just ask former striker Jô, who was fined in 2021 for wearing green football boots.
Sponsors who want to do business with the club must also adhere to the rule.
When the game finally starts, the Corinthian fans in attendance will support the Eagles and the Palmeiras fans will support the Packers, if only for one night.
