Brazil ambassador has reportedly warned London that England football hooligans who make it to the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Brazil will face a 1,50,000-strong army of armed police and soldiers.
Ambassador Roberto Jaguaribe said that handling fierce rivalry between domestic clubs like Corinthians Paulista and Flamengo is more of a 'challenge' than a group of drunken Brits, as some of the local fans turn up with guns.
According to the Daily Star, although Brazil's tourism chiefs expect 6,00,000 supporters from round the world to fly in, Jaguaribe said that the country is used to 'coping' with such a big turnout on an event like this.
Jaguaribe said that Brazil receives over one million people every new year on the Copacabana beach and 4,00,000 in Rio de Janeiro for the carnival and also added that they are used to controlling violence between fans.
However, Jaguaribe is hopeful that the World Cup would be 'subdued' adding that England fans do not present them with the same problems that they did 15 years ago.
Jaguaribe also said that he did not anticipate that any games would be disrupted adding that there has been an enormous effort to stop the fans who have caused trouble in the past and that has had a hugely positive impact.
The tournament would be backed up by military reinforcements and nearly all of Brazil's police officers will be on security during the event, the report added.