Historically, the different regions of the football world employed different methods of suspending the goal nets. In England and the Low Countries, full-support stanchions or “A-frames” were favoured. In Central Europe, triangular “elbows” or “Continental D” supports were preferred. In South America, “L-supports” were the method of choice.

In recent years, however, there has been a worldwide movement towards a uniform method of goal net suspension, the free-hanging box goal net as first seen on the global football stage at FIFA World Cup 1974 in West Germany.

While modern, and safe for players, we believe the global adoption of this method of suspension has led to a loss of local and national identity.

The respected football author Jonathan Wilson has written that, “If you’d shown me a photo of a net in the mid Eighties, I could have told you the ground,” but regrets that, “Globalisation has led to homogeneity,” and “Now… if you showed me a photo of a net it could be anywhere.”

The method of suspending the goal nets with “L-supports” – as seen at the FIFA World Cup 1978 in Argentina, and at the 1950 World Cup final at Estadio do Maracana in Rio de Janeiro – are local to South America and are as Brazilian as Pele, yellow shirts and blue shorts.

Sign the petition and demand FIFA World Cup 2014 respects the traditions of the South American football region in general and Brazil in particular, and promotes the regional and national identity by installing the “L-supports” method of goal net suspension at each of the stadia at the World Cup finals in Brazil.