Trending: Brazil's controversial World Cup substitution
"Fifa, we want Lazaro Ramos and Camila Pitanga, ok? They are our face, our people, and we love them!" was one tweet. "As if we weren't already self-sufficient when it comes to racism, Fifa comes over to lend us a hand," was another. US film director Spike Lee even chimed in with criticism of Fifa's power over the game. Many demanded an explanation - and in the absence of one, were quick to come to their own conclusions.
Fernanda Lima and Rodrigo Hilbert have worked with Fifa before
"I was trying to tell people 'Hold your horses', it could be racism, but we don't know," says Guilherme Pinheiro, a film and TV producer in Sao Paulo, who joined the Twitter discussion to call on people to cool down. There could be other explanations, he says - to do with sponsorship or standard of English, for example.
Many in Brazil are resentful of the money being spent on World Cup preparations, and feel Fifa is trying to dictate how Brazil comes across on the world stage, says Sergio Charlab, of the Twitter-based English-language news service Brazil Character Lab. There have been similar controversies before. When women in Bahia were told they could not sell acaraje - a traditional dish with African origins - at World Cup stadiums, there was outrage on social media.
Fifa says the decision to swap Lazaro Ramos and Camila Pitanga had absolutely nothing to do with race. They have announced a line-up of musicians for the World Cup draw which includes a significant number of Afro-Brazilian artists.
Source:BBC
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