Scolari low on credit with Brazil bankers
Luiz Felipe Scolari sparked a row just minutes after returning to the Brazil coaching hot-seat on Thursday by suggesting that bank workers have an easy life compared to his multi-millionaire footballers.
Scolari, who guided Brazil to their fifth World Cup title in 2002, told reporters that if his players could not deal with pressure they should go and work for Banco do Brasil where staff "sit at their desks and do nothing".
"Our players know that winning (the World Cup in 2014) will be one of the most important titles ever won by Brazil. We'll have to work. If they don't feel pressure, they can go to work for Banco do Brasil, sit at desks and do nothing," Scolari said.
However, the country's national bank described Scolari's outburst as "disgraceful".
"Banco do Brasil regrets the comments made by Luis Felipe Scolari and points out that its 116 000 staff every day wear the shirt of the bank, with the colours of Brazil, and work with dedication and commitment," said a company statement.
Carlos Cordeiro, the president of the bank workers' union (Contraf), said Scolari's views were out-dated.
"He has begun badly. Hopefully he is not as outdated in football like he is in relation to the work of banks," Cordeiro told O Globo.
Cordeiro said that bankers suffered real pressure at work with 1 200 workers forced our of the business recently because of "health problems and pressure from the banks pushing to meet absurd goals."
