Brazil’s top soccer clubs are employing the services of DJs to pump up the volume to support their players and help mask the eerie silence of coronavirus-era empty stadiums.
According to AFP report, DJ Franklin Scheleger sets the mood for Rio de Janeiro club Fluminense, who play their home games at the legendary Maracana, where in the absence of fans the vast stands would otherwise echo with the shouts of players or coaches.
“The challenge is to be connected with the action,” says Scheleger as he works a sound deck high up the stands.
Scheleger, 29, used to host events organized by the club, but now he is tasked with making up for the absence of Fluminense’s famously noisy fans by blasting out their recorded cheers and chants at home games.
“I am very honored to represent the supporters of my favorite team, it’s an incredible feeling. Indescribable!” he says.
Deprived of their supporters, Brazilian clubs are relying on DJs not so much to recreate the incandescent atmosphere of the games – that would be impossible – but to help their team forget the closed-door nature of football after authorities banned crowds to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Marcos Costi, 38, mixes the sound for Sao Paulo-based Palmeiras, the most successful club in Brazilian football.
“When Palmeiras is on the attack, I turn up the sound. During the penalty shootout in the Sao Paulo championship final against Corinthians, when our opponents were about to take their kicks, I cranked up the volume to try to disturb them somehow,” he said.
It’s hard to say whether Costi’s ploy really had an effect, but Palmeiras beat their arch-rivals and won.
