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SAO PAULO - The latest stadium inaugurated for the World Cup in Brazil held its first two matches without major glitches on Sunday, a day after demonstrators across Brazil protested against the tournament. Eli Manning . The Arena das Dunas in the northeastern city of Natal sustained minor damage during the protests, but demonstrators stayed away on Sunday and officials said the stadium passed its first test, with only minor adjustments needed going forward. Work was being done until the final moments before the inaugural match, but the doubleheader between local clubs in front of tens of thousands of fans was not affected. Before the matches, local media reported that police arrested two men accused of firing shots at a group of rival fans a few kilometres from the stadium. No one was injured. Demonstrators complaining about the costs of the World Cup destroyed some protective fencing and set fire to temporary tents outside the Arena das Dunas late Saturday. Local media reported security guards fired shots into the air to disperse the crowd. The Tribuna do Norte newspaper said 19 people were detained. The protest was part of a nationwide movement by those opposed the level of spending on the World Cup. About 1,000 people protested in Sao Paulo and smaller demonstrations took place in several other cities. Demonstrators attacked an empty police vehicle, torched a small car and smashed the windows of banks in Sao Paulo. Authorities responded with tear gas and rubber bullets and detained more than 100 people in South Americas biggest city. On its Facebook page, the Anonymous Rio protest group billed "Operation Stop the World Cup" as this years first act against the football tournament. The Confederations Cup was marked by violent protests last year and more are expected during the World Cup. The Arena das Dunas was the seventh World Cup stadium to be completed, with five still being worked on less than five months before the opening game on June 12. Those stadiums are mostly expected to be ready in time, but there is doubt about whether Curitiba will remain a host city as the stadium there is running well behind schedule. Brazil had promised to hand over all 12 World Cup stadiums by the end of 2013. Six of them were ready for the Confederations Cup last year. Justin Pugh . Froch retained his WBA and IBF titles with a ninth-round stoppage against Groves in Manchester on Nov. 23. Groves launched an appeal, saying referee Howard Foster stopped the fight prematurely, and the IBF then ordered a rematch. Jay Bromley Jersey . Now its going to cost him -- four games and four paychecks. The Colts career sacks leader was suspended Friday by the NFL after violating the leagues ban on performance-enhancing substances.FLIMS, Switzerland -- The Canadian women are off to a strong start at the world junior curling championships, but the men are struggling early on. Albertas Kelsey Rocque won both her games Wednesday on the first day of the round robin. Rocque and her Edmonton team of Keely Brown, Taylor McDonald and Claire Tully stole four ends, including a single in an extra end, to score a 7-6 victory over Czech Republic in the first draw. Later Wednesday they fell behind Italys Veronica Zappone 5-3 after the Italians stole a point in the seventh, but rallied for three points in the eighth and went on to win 8-6. "It was rough, I struggled a bit," said Rocque about the first five ends against Italy. "We just werent curling like we could." She felt the three points in the seventh gave the Canadians some momentum. "We started making some shots. You could see a change in our attitudes," Rocque said. Johnathan Hankins Jersey. "We started curling a little better and we had some confidence back." On the mens side, the Winnipeg team of Braden Calvert, Kyle Kurz, Lucas Van Den Bosch and Brendan Wilson lost two close games on the first day of competition. The Canadians lost their first game 8-6 to the 2013 silver medallists from Russia. Canada was leading 6-5 after nine ends, but Russias Sergey Glukhov was able to score three for the 8-6 victory. Calvert followed with a 6-5 loss to Sweden. Calvert stole one in the ninth end to lead 5-4, but Swedens Fredrik Nyman took a deuce in the 10th. "We were just on the wrong side of the inch all day, and we werent as sharp as we needed to be today," said Calvert after the match. "Were just going to sharpen up and have a good practice on the sheet well play tomorrow and well be good." ' ' ' |
