The soccer team of Sao Paulo boarded on Thursday their plane to return to Brazil after their game against Atletico Nacional in Columbia for the Libertadores Cup.
However, Adriano, the forward for the team, was not dressed in his team attire, disappointing the team's president, Juvenal Juvencio.
After having been told about Adriano's neglect, the team president promised that he would have a serious conversation with the athlete.
"He is the Emperor in Rome, but here he is equal to the others, " said the president of the team, referring to Adriano's nickname given to him while with Internazionale in Italy.
"I won't talk to him for hours, but he needs to remember that he has to dress like the rest of the team. It will be something like this: 'look, you need to wear your uniform,'" added Juvencio.
The vice president of the team, Carlos Augusto de Barros e Silva, attempted to clarify the situation. "Adriano simply changed shirts while in the airport. I don't believe it was something done on purpose," said Barros e Silva.
The team captain of Sao Paulo, Rogerio Ceni, did not see any problem with the attitude of the player. "He was wearing his uniform while we were waiting to board the plane. It is such a small problem amongst many things that the team will have to face this year," added the goalkeeper.
Upon leaving the airport in Sao Paulo, Adriano was escorted by a member of the team's security and spoke very little to the press.
He did mention that he was happy with the team's performance in their first game of the Libertadores, but that the team needs to play better in the upcoming games.
(Xinhua News Agency February 29, 2008)