Brazil vs England Friendly Back On After Judge Reverses Decision

Ah, you’ve got to love politics. After a judge suspended the Brazil against England friendly yesterday due to concerns about public safety, the same judge overruled her decision today and said that the game must go on.

The state government presented a report today showing that the Maracanã Stadium complies with the relevant safety guidelines and the order has been overturned.

“All safety requirements for the friendly between Brazil and England have been complied with and, because of a bureaucratic failure, the appraisal from the public ministry that proves the compliance with the rules on safety at the Maracanã have not been sent to Suderj (the administrative division of the Rio de Janeiro state authority),” read a statement.

It’s amazing what 24 hours and political influence will do to change the decision.

The game will be played on Sunday at 3pm ET. Viewers in the United States will be able to watch the match live on beIN SPORT.

In the meantime, let’s hope the authorities in Brazil are actually going to do something about the public safety concerns that include construction rubble around the stadium and alleged concerns regarding the state-of-the-art roof.

Rather than sweep all of the problems under the carpet, hopefully this PR nightmare will get FIFA and Brazil 2014 focused on ensuring that the stadiums are completely ready and safe in time for next month’s Confederations Cup tournament to be held in Brazil.