Seats destroyed at World Cup stadium

The latest outbreak of football hooliganism in Brazil has seen seats destroyed at a World Cup stadium in Fortaleza and dozens of supporters detained after clashes in Sao Paulo.

World Cup organisers say about 100 seats have been destroyed at the Arena Castelao by Fortaleza fans angry with the team missing out on promotion to the second division. However, local media, citing police, painted a bleaker picture, saying the number of damaged seats could be close to 3000.

The stadium will host six matches in next year’s World Cup.

Several teams have been punished by Brazil’s sports tribunal this year because of fan violence, and more punishments are expected to be handed down after this weekend.

The problem at the Arena Castelao happened after the third-division club Fortaleza drew 2-2 against Sampaio Correa, a result that ended the club’s chances of promotion to the second division.

Nearly 60,000 Fortaleza fans packed the stadium, and some of them began destroying the seats after the final whistle ended the team’s hopes.

At the Morumbi Stadium, police hit fans with batons to keep Sao Paulo supporters from invading the Corinthians fan section.

Television images showed bloodied fans throwing punches at officers and some fans with small children trying to flee the chaos.

Authorities detained at least 30 people involved in the clash.

So much for the beautiful game…