RIO DE JANEIRO, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The head coach of the Figueirense soccer team, Roberto Fernandes, was under fire on Saturday for his unusual method of giving incentive to his athletes.

    During the team's practice last week, Fernandes had his midfielder, Jairo, wear a pink women's blouse in order to punish him for a poor performance during the team's workout.

    The punishment, which was intended to motivate his athletes, came under fire from coaches, athletes and lawyers throughout Brazil.

    "The same rules of respect towards the dignity of a person apply to ordinary workers just as they do to soccer players," declared the president of Brazilian Association of Lawyers, Cezar Britto.

    Britto considered the act of Fernades making his player wear a pink blouse during practice as "moral abuse."

    Accroding to Fernandes, the idea came from his own players and not himself. The point was to punish the player who performed the worst in the team's previous day of practice. The gesture was to motivate his team as a whole to give it their all during the team's practice.

    Vanderlei Luxemburgo, the head coach of Palmeiras, also showed his disapproval of Fernandes' method. "I didn't like it one bit. There are many others way of motivating your athletes," added Luxemburgo.

    Jairo caught the attention of the whole country with his pink blouse drapped over his practice jersey. His image made the front page of nearly all the newspapers throughout the country. Although embarrassed, Jairo did not consider the treatment to be cruel and it did serve to motivate him to practice all full speed.