Matches during the 2014 World Cup will be stopped if players are affected by tear gas from outside the stadiums. FIFA's announcement on Monday followed reports that the Brazil team was affected during the Confederations Cup on Sunday after tear gas drifted into Maracana Stadium, the Associated Press reports.
Amidst the continuing protests in Brazil, demonstrators and police clashed on Sunday outside Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. More than 5,000 protesters marched on the streets outside the stadium, where the Brazil football team was hosting Spain for the 2013 Confederations Cup Final. Molotov cocktails were thrown at police, who responded by launching tear gas and shock grenades into the crowd, according to Sky News.
Some of the tear gas wafted into the stadium and bothered some players for Brazil. The team still pulled out a 3-0 win over Spain, but the incident raised the question of how FIFA will respond if a similar occurrence happens next year at the World Cup.
"Anytime the 22 players on the pitch cannot play, then you have to stop," FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke told reporters.
At the same time, there is only so much FIFA can do.
"You want us to put some big fans in order to push (it) away?" Valcke said. "There is a limit to what we can do. There is a limit to what we can ask. Again, we have to live with what we have sometimes."
Valcke added that FIFA has "no right to ask the government what to do with the security."
The Confederations Cup acts as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup. Despite the possibility of the protests continuing and tear gas becoming an issue again next year, it's unlikely FIFA will alter the event.
Valcke added: "Along as (security) doesn't affect the organization of the event it's a responsibility of the government security."
Brazilians are protesting for a "greater investment in health and education, for people to have their citizen's rights and not only football, beer and samba," as one demonstrator told reporters.
