Just hours after the German World Cup organizing committee sent out an advisory statement to German fans asking them to respect their pets this summer by not painting them in the national colors, a strange but believable letter began to drop through the letter boxes of houses across the city of Cologne.
Given FIFA’s love of control and Germany’s world famous affection for order, the letter has caused a raging debate across the city as to whether the World Cup’s organizers have finally cracked under the pressure or that someone in the western German city is making a funny, yet poignant statement.
The letter contains a list of “suitable behavioral practices” that should be followed during the World Cup in the host city. Soccer fans are banned from displaying any products — soccer-related or otherwise — visible from the street if they are not produced by an official World Cup partner. The letter also advises supporters that the singing of unlicensed, unofficial songs will not be tolerated with a specified “control zone.”
