Brazil football season ends in chaos

Unpublished
Brasilia - The Brazilian football league ended on Sunday with a violent brawl that seriously injured three people, with two big clubs being relegated. A match in southern Brazil was stopped for an hour after fights broke out between fans from Vasco da Gama and Atletico Paranaense. TV images showed seemingly unconscious men being kicked in the head despite the appeals from football players. A helicopter landed on the pitch to transport an injured man to a hospital. The shockingly violent scenes, broadcast live to millions of homes on Sunday afternoon, are bound to raise questions about Brazil's ability to keep fans safe during next year's World Cup, correspondents say. The brawl in the Arena Joinville, in the southern state of Santa Catarina, started during the first half of the match. One of Atletico Paranaense's players was filmed crying after witnessing the vicious beating of fans. "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," defender Luiz Alberto told reporters. Vasco da Gama needed to win the game to stay in the elite division of Brazilian football. Despite tensions running high, there was no policing inside the stadium. (FA)

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