Brazilian team to play in empty stadium after fan killed by toilet bowl thrown from stands

SAO PAULO – Brazil’s sports tribunal has ordered a second-division team to play its next two home matches in an empty stadium because of the death of a man struck in the head by a toilet bowl thrown from the stands during fan violence this weekend.

The tribunal has also suspended all of the team’s fan groups from attending matches anywhere in Brazil until the person who threw the toilet bowl is turned over to authorities.

Santa Cruz’s Arruda Stadium had already been closed by the Brazilian football federation on Saturday, a day after the 26-year-old fan was killed in the fighting in the northeastern World Cup host city of Recife.

The death prompted Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to call for actions to contain fan violence in Brazil’s stadiums.

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