SAO PAULO – The Brazilian Government, Rio Safety Authorities, FIFA and Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the 2014 World Cup are to adjust operational procedures at the Maracanã Stadium.
Andrei Rodrigues, the Special Secretary, Safety and Security for Major Events in Brazil’s Ministry of Justice, made this known on Friday at a news conference in Rio de Janeiro.
He said that the re-assessment of the procedures came after Chilean fans broke through a fence that delimited the restricted areas and stormed the stadium’s media centre before the match between Chile and Spain.
“We have defined and will adjust these procedures to ensure that we have a more coordinated approach and a calm atmosphere at the stadium.
“The new procedures will be in place for the match between Belgium and Russia this Saturday.
“We have a standard planning assessment procedure for all matches, national team movements, training sessions and other events.
“We look at the plans in place and determine if it is adequate or if anything needs to be improved.
“This is routine. When problems are identified, we take corrective action.
“The same happened here at Maracanã. We will certainly have some new operational definitions on Saturday,” Rodrigues said.
He said that the safety and security plan for the World Cup arenas provided that private agents (stewards) were responsible for operating the gates and internal areas of the stadiums.
Rodrigues said that this would allow them to trigger support from the public safety authorities in case of necessity.
The LOC Security General Manager, Hilario Medeiros, said that no fewer than 1,000 stewards would be deployed for the match between Spain and Chile.
Medeiros said that the decision was taken to prevent Chilean fans from repeating their act.
“All the parties involved are working to ensure this does not happen again.
“Be are discussing operational matters, not infrastructure; so, the fix was already in place for the next match,” he said. (NAN)
