By Xinhua
Brasilia : Starting next week, a select team of law enforcement officials will come together to discuss their strategy to decrease violence within the historical Maracana football stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
The plan will be to identify leaders of organised fan groups before the 2008 season gets underway. By doing this, the leaders will be easily identified and be made responsible for any act of violence or destruction committed by a group member or affiliate of the group.
“We need to make it clear that we are not targeting fans or the organized fan clubs that we will have to register. We are targeting the low-lifes who pretend to be fans, but end up causing problems,” stated Eduardo Paes, member of the Secretary of Tourism, Sports and Pleasure.
The new attempt at lowering the crime rate inside the Maracana stadium is set to begin in the first week of January.