Posted at 6:28 a.m., Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Soccer: Brazil club fined, suspended in stadium collapse
Associated Press
SAO PAULO, Brazil — Brazil's top sports tribunal fined Bahia $45,500 and suspended the club from playing at home for seven matches because of a stadium collapse that killed seven people last month in the nation's worst soccer disaster.The sports tribunal said Bahia — the 1988 national champion — was responsible for securing fan safety during the Nov. 25 match against Vila Nova, which ended 0-0 and marked Bahia's return to the Brazilian league's second division.
Seven fans died and 40 others were injured after a seating section at the Fonte Nova stadium in the northeastern city of Salvador collapsed late in the match. Victims fell nearly 50 feet through a 10-foot wide hole that opened in the concrete stands.
About 60,000 people were at the stadium, and many didn't realize the section of bleachers had given way.
Bahia state officials later said the stadium will be torn down.
In a report issued Nov. 1, architects had flagged the stadium as being in the worst condition of 29 Brazilian soccer stadiums surveyed ahead of the 2014 World Cup — although Brazilian officials said they did not plan to host Cup games at Fonte Nova.
