adminRIO DE JANEIRO. – Some 200 Chilean soccer fans stormed the Maracana media centre around an hour before kick-off in the World Cup soccer match against Spain on Wednesday, raising major concerns for Fifa and tournament organisers.
The fans charged through a security checkpoint before smashing down a glass door, witnesses said, and invading the working room.
They ran around the journalists’ workplace looking for access to the stadium, before police were called.
“They stormed the gate and ran into the stadium. We stopped them,” security guard Diego Guilherme de Souza Goncalves told Reuters.
The spectators were being held seated on the floor, while police took them away in groups.
“A group of individuals without tickets violently forced entry into the stadium, breaking fences and overrunning security,” world soccer’s governing body Fifa said.
“They were contained by the security and did not make it to the seats.
“The situation was brought under control quickly and at least 85 intruders were detained according to the military police of Rio de Janeiro.
“The organisers of the Fifa World Cup condemn these acts of violence and we will communicate further information and measures to be taken in due course.”- AFP.
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