土耳其足协尝试着举办了一次不同寻常的球赛，参赛球队都曾经因为行为不佳而受到过惩罚，而观众则一律为妇女和儿童。这场在土耳其首都伊斯坦布尔举行的 球赛气氛非凡。参赛队包括土耳其顶级球队费内巴切足球俱乐部。

 

Turkish football fans are famed for their raucous¹ passion, and the Turkish Football Federation² punishes violent behaviour by making the team play without an audience. But from this week they have moderated that rule, to allow women and children to watch sanctioned matches.

 

Last night the first such game, at the stadium of the top team Fenerbahce, was attended by an unexpectedly large crowd of 41,000 women and children.

 

The players said they approved of the changed atmosphere, where, instead of the usual war-like chanting, there were flowers and applause for both teams.

 

The Federation changed its rules because it's expecting more crowd trouble this season, following the exposure of a big match-fixing scandal.

 

Turkish television companies, which rely heavily on football for revenue, were worried they would lose subscribers if too many games were played in empty stadiums.

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