A well-known Brazilian soccer lineswoman, already in trouble over a mistake she made during a match last month, has raised eyebrows with her decision to pose nude for Playboy magazine.
Ana Paula Oliveira, a 29-year-old brunette who also campaigns for women's rights, signed a contract with the magazine this week and will appear in its July edition without her usual sports attire.
The Brazilian Soccer Confederation said it was not considering any sanctions against Oliveira, one of a handful of female referee assistants in Brazil, but indicated it may be bad for her career.
"If she took that decision, it's because she must have other career thoughts," Lance! a sports daily, quoted the president of the confederation's refereeing commission, Edson Rezende, as saying through a spokesman.
Oliveira was banned for three games for mistakenly disallowing at least one goal during a Copa Brasil match in May, and has not been called up for any top league matches since. The mistake contributed to debate in Brazil about the presence of female officials at top games.
Fellow lineswoman Aline Lambert told the same Friday edition of the paper that posing nude "is incompatible with the profession".
Columnist and former World Cup referee Jose Wright said it would now be difficult for Oliveira to become a referee.
But Oliveira said in an Internet chat on Futebol no Interior (Football in the Outback) web site she is still hoping to be a referee in future World Cup tournaments. She said her mother had told her to accept the Playboy deal. Local media estimate the deal would earn her nearly $250,000.
