With the aftershock of the bombings in Boston still being felt, security issues surrounding future sporting events is now under the spotlight. One of the biggest events is next year’s World Cup in Brazil, and FIFA officials along with politicians in that country are now planning to beef up safety measures for the tournament. We get more now from Peter Koveos.
Although Brazil has little history of terrorism and bomb threats, authorities have been conducting police exercises in preparation for future events.
The country will be hosting the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Rio Olympics, so its security measures will be scrutinized.
Video released by the Brazilian government showed two simulated exercises on Rio’s subways, one from earlier this month, and another recorded roughly a year ago.
The exercises involved up to two hundred people including Rio’s military police.
They simulated an attempt by a man to take a bomb onto an underground train on the way to the Maracana stadium.
Once a dangerous place reknowned for its drug violence and gang culture, Rio de Janeiro has won kudos for its crackdown on crime in preparation for hosting the two massive sporting events.
And the country’s top foreign official is confident about his nation’s safety measures.
Antonio Patriota， Brazil Foreign Minister, said, "Brazil is taking all the necessary steps. We trust the measures will guarantee the safety of the upcoming events. Also I think it is very important to follow up the investigation of the Boston marathon bombings and to figure out what is the nature and motivation of this act."
Also on Tuesday, top FIFA officials made it clear that they will leave nothing to chances as to the security of the 2014 World Cup .
FIFA Secretary-General, Jerome Valcke, says his organisation is already planning tougher security measures including secret service agents, police officers, the military, and Interpol.
Jerome Valcke, FIFA Secretary-General, said, "You can imagine with what happened in Boston. We will be even more stronger with the request to have a security permit which is around the stadium. The stadium itself has a permit of 1.5 kilometres so no one can access the stadium without a check. Also, it is the same for the cars. Whoever is entering the stadium, whoever is parking under the stadium is going through a security check as you can see at the Olympic Games whenever you reach an Olympic venue. Security with zero risk does not exist."
The first major test for Brazil comes in June when the country will host the Confederations Cup. The warm-up tournament for the World Cup features eight teams and will be played in six cities across the country.
