England Friendly Against Brazil At Maracana Suspended, Says Report

The mess that is Brazil 2014 and FIFA continues as a newspaper report in Brazil claims that this Sunday’s friendly between Brazil and England at the redeveloped Maracana Stadium has been suspended due to public safety issues.

According to reliable Brazilian journalist Fernando Duarte, the Brazilian newspaper Estado de S. Paulo reports a court order has suspended the Brazil v England friendly. According to the report, the injunction was filed by the Rio State legal body, claiming that there was not enough evidence of public safety at the Maracana.

England, who are already in Rio de Janeiro preparing for Sunday’s match, were scheduled to play the opening game at the redeveloped Maracana Stadium, one of the great icons of soccer. A state-of-the-art cover was added to the bowl-shaped stadium.

Despite the court order to suspend the game, there’s still an opportunity for the Brazilian FA (CBF) and English Football Association to step in and provide technical documentation to nullify the public safety concerns in time for the match to be played as scheduled on Sunday. Let’s hope that the authorities can resolve the issue in time.

If the game will be played, it’ll be televised (in the United States) live on beIN SPORT at 3pm ET.

The Maracana will host three matches during next month’s FIFA Confederations Cup and seven games, including the final, of next year’s World Cup.