England clash hit by Maracana fears
High-prof ile Brazil friendly ‘suspended’ over stadium safety
Friday 31 May 2013 England’s friendly against Brazil on sunday was in doubt last night after fears were raised over safety at the Maracana stadium.
The high-profile match was suspended, according to the sao Paulo-based newspaper Estado.
It was reported that the Brazilian football federation (CBF) had been made aware of the issue and was urgently looking at its implications.
But rather than that amounting to a cancellation, the suspension of the fixture appeared instead to put the onus on stadium officials to submit written evidence to state officials that rebuilding work was complete on the venue which will stage next year’s World Cup final.
Estado reported on its website that a state prosecutor had submitted a request for the match to be cancelled because of a lack of assurances that work on the stadium had been finalised, with worries over debris left over by construction workers that could be hurled in the case of a disturbance.
The CBF was unwilling to say last night whether the match at Rio de Janeiro’s world-famous stadium, which has been given a major facelift ahead of Brazil hosting the World Cup, would proceed as planned.
according to the Estado report, the state prosecutor expressed its concern to judge adriana Costa dos santos, who applied an injunction to suspend the friendly fixture, due to be England’s first at the Maracana since 1984.
The judge has reportedly demanded to see paperwork showing the overhauled 78,000seat stadium is fit for purpose.
The judge is quoted as saying: “despite numerous requests from the public ministry [the state prosecutor], the reports were not delivered in their entirety and we do not have at this moment the proof the