The final match of the Brazilian football season ended on Sunday with three people left seriously injured after a violent fight broke out in the stands.
The match had to be stopped for 60 minutes after the brawl erupted between fans of Atletico Paranaense and Vasco da Gama, with Brazilian television showing pictures of players shouting and pleading with fans to end the violence. One man, apparently unconscious, was continually beaten and kicked by other fans before he was evacuated by helicopter to a nearby hospital for treatment.
As football matches are private events, the security at the Arena da Baixada was being handled by a private firm hired by Atletico Paranaense, however police were forced to intervene and fire rubber bullets to disperse the crowd after two Paranaens were lying injured in the stands.
Paranaense defender Luiz Alberto told reporters after the match:
“I’ve been playing for 20 years and I’ve never seen anything like this in person. We will have a World Cup in our country and we know these images will be shown everywhere”
The violence will raise questions about the safety and security of fans travelling to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup.