FIFA World Cup: Brazil police prevent protest near Maracana stadium

Rio De Janeiro: Brazilian police used pepper spray to prevent some 200 protestors from getting near Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium during the Argentina-Bosnia World Cup game. Chanting “Hey FIFA, return to Switzerland,” the demonstrators, including members of the radical Black Bloc movement, tried to penetrate a police barricade. Police used pepper spray to keep them back. Tensions rose when a man driving by fired a gun in the air and shouted at protestors to leave, an AFP journalist said. Some protestors headed to another neighborhood where they damaged two banks, according to the G1 news website. [caption id=“attachment_1572479” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] An anti-World Cup demonstrator waves a flag in front of police lined up near Maracana stadium. AP[/caption] Another protest took place in the southern city of Porto Alegre as police kept demonstrators far from the stadium where France played Honduras. No incidents were reported. In the capital Brasilia, 300 people protested near the stadium used for the Switzerland-Ecuador game to condemn the 11 billion spent on the World Cup. Brazil was rocked by massive protests during last year’s Confederations Cup as people angry at the World Cup cost took to the streets. Demonstrations have been smaller in recent months. AFP