Jordan's football fans fined for flagging up a show of support

Drivers in Amman flying flags have been pulled over by police and issued tickets for violating a law that bars citizens from 'adding objects to their cars'.

AMMAN // World Cup fans are known for their decorative displays of team affection. They wear their country colours, they paint their faces. In Jordan for a little while last week, it seemed, however, that they could not hang flags on their cars. Many Jordanians were incensed when police officers began pulling them over and issuing tickets of 15 dinars (Dh77) for violating a traffic law that bars citizens from "adding objects to their cars".

Silvia Tayseer, whose son was an Italy fan, said: "I was surprised when a policeman asked me to pull over and asked me to remove the flags that were placed near the side windows, and then withdrew the car's licence as if I have committed a major traffic violation. "I told him they were only flags that I put for my son's sake. But the policeman spoke of a law I have never heard of before." After mounting criticism, Mohamad Khatib, a spokesman for the department of public security, said on Thursday that the instructions were misunderstood and the department would "rectify the status of any driver who was given a ticket". He said fines were supposed to be given to cars with flags that obstructed a driver's view, not all cars with flags.

* Suha Philip Ma'ayeh