SAO PAOLO - Street protests erupted Wednesday in the southeastern Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte hours before the national squad was to face Uruguay in the Confederations Cup semi-final.
Demonstrators blocked roads and set a bus ablaze as authorities said they expect 60,00 protesters to turn up when the match kicks off at 19GMT (2am Thursday, Thai time) in the state capital of Minas Gerais.
State authorities said 1,500 soldiers were to back up 5,700 police and firefighters in case the protests turn violent, as has occurred in various parts of the country over the past two weeks.
A police official, Lieutenant Colonel Alberto Luiz Alves, told Globo television that security forces would act "with civility and firmness."
Late Tuesday night, some 10,000 people, mainly students, protested at Montes Claros in the north of Minas Gerais state, prompting many bars and businesses to bring the shutters down early for fear of looting.
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke overnight told Brazilian television that he was "uncomfortable but not afraid" to see the scale of the protests.
But he urged a separation between political protest and football.
"(Football) is not a forum for political discussion," said Valcke, who conceded that FIFA had to improve its communication with the public.
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