Football team mascot banned for one match for appalling behaviour
The Minas Gerais State Football Association announced yesterday that the mascot of Atletico Mineiro, the holder of the Brazilian Football League, has been suspended for one match due to appalling behavior during the match against Cruzeiro in the city's summit at the weekend.
Atletico's title is the rooster and the team's mascot was behind the goal when Cruzeiro opened the scoring in the 70th minute of Sunday's match at the Mineirao stadium.
He immediately ran to prevent one of Cruzeiro's players from celebrating in front of the crowd, and threw his arm to stop him.
The Minas Gerais Football Association said the move was alarming and decided to suspend the mascot for Atletico's upcoming home game against Atletico Caldensie on March 19.
The union added in the statement that "it is necessary to adopt educational methods to stop similar practices" in the future.
Atletico won the match 2-1 thanks to a last-minute goal, but did not comment on the behavior of the mascot.
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