The Sao Paulo state government announced that it will deploy hundreds of police officers and provide escorts for team buses for Friday’s NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers. This action comes after some players raised concerns about playing in Brazil.
The security measures for the game at Sao Paulo’s NeoQuimica Arena will be organized in coordination with U.S. authorities, according to a statement from the state’s public security secretariat on Wednesday.
Brazil has high rates of gun violence and crime, and metropolitan Sao Paulo has seen a rise in cellphone thefts.
For the game, which is the first NFL match to be held in South America, hundreds of both civilian and military police will be on duty. Military police will escort the teams’ buses to their hotels, training sites, and the stadium.
“Our policing will be increased during the week to ensure public safety for this historic event, with officers positioned around the stadium, on public transportation, at hotels, and in tourist areas of the city,” the security secretariat said.
Earlier this week, Eagles cornerback Darius Slay mentioned in a podcast that he was reluctant to go to Brazil due to the country’s crime rate. Wide receiver AJ Brown said he would likely stay in his hotel room during his stay in Sao Paulo, and other players shared similar worries.
On Saturday, San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall was shot in the chest during an attempted robbery in central San Francisco.
