Brazil v England friendly to go ahead despite safety concerns

England's friendly with Brazil is set to go ahead on Sunday after Rio de Janiero authorities reversed a judge's early decision not to award a safety certificate to the match venue, the famous Maracana stadium. Rio judge, Adriana Costa dos Santos, had ruled that the match could not proceed but the state government overruled that judgement and issued a statement confirming that the game could go ahead on 2 June as all safety conditions had been met. The controversy follows repeated FIFA complaints for more than a year that Brazil is not ready to host the World Cup. You can buy your Confederations Cup tickets now! Spain v Uruguay tickets and Brazil v Mexico tickets are available securely online.

Brazil not yet ready for World Cup

Jerome Valcke, FIFA Secretary General, has been in Brazil this month to check on the venues scheduled to host the World Cup. He acknowledged that work would certainly not be finished in time for the Confederations Cup and warned that this situation would not be tolerated for the World Cup. Newspaper reports in Brazil have suggested that the Brazilian football authorities could be fined as much as one million US dollars for allowing the England match to go ahead without the right safety certificates being in place.