Atlético Mineiro won the Brazilian league title for the first time in 50 years last week, and to celebrate, the club offered fans free tattoos, and they duly arrived in their droves, lining up in the rain to get inked.
When you’ve waited half a century for a league title, the celebrations when it finally arrives are always going to be pretty wild. And what better way to mark the occasion than with a tattoo, immortalising the memory on your own skin. That was the view in Brazil anyway, with Atlético Mineiro and their sponsor, MRV, only too happy to help fans out after their 3-2 win over Bahia secured their first Brasileirão in 50 years with two games to spare.
Almost 1000 fans lined up in the rain in the club's hometown, the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte, to get one of four designs etched on the body part of their choice…
Organisers brought in some 30 tattoo artists to put ink to skin at the MRV Arena, the champions' under-construction new home, offering a select menu of options: a picture of the trophy; a rooster, the club's mascot; the words "The Rooster Won"; or a drawing of the arena. All that was asked in exchange for the tattoos was that fans donate one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of food to charity.
MRV, the club’s sponsor, was founded by Rubens Menin, one of a group of benefactors who lent Atlético Mineiro money at zero interest to enable the club to sign a series of star players, including the double-hard bastard pairing of Hulk and Diego Costa, an absolute genius move – what centre back would want to face up to that?
If the name Atletico Mineiro rings a bell to those of us outside of Brazil, it’s likely because they dropped one of the best shirt designs of the year – the fan designed ‘Manto da Massa 113' away shirt, which featured a detailed printed map of the Minas Gerais state (of which Belo Horizonte, Atlético Mineiro's home city, is capital) on the front. A shirt worthy of the title...
Atlético Mineiro have two more league matches to play and then will aim to do the double with the Copa do Brasil, which is played over two legs against Athletico Paranaense on 12 and 16 December.
