SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian soccer club Corinthians, which is preparing its stadium for the first NFL game in South America, hates anything green so much that management tried to paint the field black about a decade ago.

Players can be fined if they are spotted wearing clothes or shoes of a certain colour, and sponsors must adapt if they want to be associated with a club with more than 35 million fans.

All this is done to prevent Corinthians fans from saying anything about local rivals Palmeiras, the team they have been feuding with for over a century.

On Friday, however, the NeoQuimica Arena will be bathed in green as the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles play the second game of the NFL season in Sao Paulo.

The Eagles are the designated host team. In an attempt to attract some Brazilian fans to their side, they wear black helmets, white shirts and black pants — Corinthians colors.

A Corinthians official told The Associated Press on Sunday that the move came at the request of the president, who claimed that green was only allowed for visiting teams. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The Packers play in their traditional white, yellow and green uniform, similar to the colors of the Brazilian flag.

Earlier on Thursday, the Packers made a blunder by giving Corinthians goalie Hugo Souza a green Packers jersey with the Brazilian club’s name on the back, angering many fans on social media.

Many Palmeiras fans, who are among the 42,000 expected to attend the match, have indicated on their social media channels that they will wear green regardless, many of them cheering for the Packers after the Eagles decided to eschew their usual colors.

“Corinthians and Palmeiras are branches of the same tree. The rivalry between them has existed since before they first played each other in 1917 when Palmeiras was still called Palestra Italia,” said Celso Unzelte, who has written or co-written 24 books on football. “Corinthians was founded in 1910 and Palestra Italia was born four years later after gathering players of Italian origin from various other clubs in Sao Paulo. One of them was a Corinthians great, Bianco Gambini. He also became a great for Palestra Italia and really soured the relationship.”

Since Gambini joined Palmeiras, the rivalry between the two Sao Paulo football giants only grew, as they often played each other for trophies. The animosity between them reached a new height in 1969 after a car accident that killed two Corinthians players, 22-year-old defender Lidu and 24-year-old striker Eduardo.

The Sao Paulo state championship was underway and Corinthians wanted to bring in two new players to replace the casualties. All the other clubs agreed, except one.

“I don’t mention the name of that club and I haven’t worn green since then,” said Renato Messina, 75, a journalist and former player for the Corinthians academy team. “It was hard for my father because he supported that other club. When he wore their shirt, I wouldn’t go near him. I’ve never forgotten how they refused to be good sportsmen in that case. I don’t give a damn about football, but I only watch it to cheer on the one who wears green.”

Green has been a banned color wherever Corinthians played since the 1970s. Back then, it was common to hear chants of “take it off” whenever a careless fan appeared in the stands wearing that color. The tradition is so ingrained in the club’s culture that the only people who wear green during games at NeoQuimica Arena are visiting players and fans.

The rejection of green has become even more prominent at Corinthians in recent years, as the club has struggled financially and seen Palmeiras win major titles. The two had opposing roles a decade ago, but even then the no-green policy was still in place.

In December 2012, just days after Palmeiras had been relegated to the second division, then South American champions Corinthians were scheduled to face English club Chelsea in the final of the Club World Cup in Japan. The Brazilian team refused to accept the green warm-up vests offered by the tournament organizers. In the end, Corinthians used the red ones that had initially been given to Chelsea. The Brazilians won 1-0.

Claudia Luane was one of those fans who traveled to Tokyo 12 years ago. She has been a regular at Corinthians games for the past two decades. She travels with the team when she can, usually doesn’t wear green and cheers for Palmeiras “in every sport you can.” But she won’t be cheering for the Packers — the only community-owned team in the NFL.

“I like that they have a football team with a lot of ordinary people. The Packers seem to be a team of the people. We are too. That’s more important than the colours they wear,” said Luane, 43, dressed all in black, before Corinthians’ 2-1 win over Flamengo in a Brazilian league match on Sunday. “We’re fighting relegation this year and our rival is fighting for the title again. But you see all that crowd? The stadium is full again. I’m sure the Packers have the same atmosphere.”

Even though they wear green.

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