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RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 13 (Reuters) - As soon as the referee blows the final whistle he is surrounded by riot police on the pitch who stop players, coaches and even reporters from getting close enough to question or criticise his performance.
This is a recurring image at Brazilian soccer matches with riot police ever present at stadiums, as is the violence that marred Wednesday night's Copa Sudamericana final in Sao Paulo, one of the cities that will host the 2014 World Cup finals.
Modest Argentine side Tigre accused police and Sao Paulo security officials of attacking and pulling guns on their players in their dressing room at halftime in the Morumbi where they were 2-0 down to the home side and refused to play the second half.
The first half had ended in a free-for-all involving players and officials of both teams as they left the pitch and police also fought with about 60 Sao Paulo fans who invaded the pitch to celebrate when the referee declared their team winners.
"Of course we have no jurisdiction over this match but it is not a good image for Brazil and it must change," Ricardo Trade, CEO of Brazil's World Cup organising committee, told reporters on Thursday.
"Those kinds of TV pictures are not good for us, we don't want them of course," he said during a tour of World Cup venues.
"We also want to change another negative image, of the military police in the stadiums and escorting the referee and officials off at the end. It is not a positive image.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/soccer-violence-mars-world-cup-hosts-brazils-image-002953012--sow.html;_ylt=A2KJjam5lfFQTCIAWjHQtDMD
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