Football fans returned to Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium for its long-awaited reopening, embracing the pre-World Cup atmosphere despite tight security, protests across the capital and a fatal accident inside the venue.
Supporters streamed into the revamped venue for the first time in nearly two years for Mexico’s friendly against Portugal, which ended goalless.
Mexico will co-host the World Cup with the United States and Canada, and are set to open the tournament against South Africa at the stadium, renamed Banorte, on June 11.
Road closures and a large security operation made for a long walk to reach the gates, but many said the measures were expected for an event of this scale.
Protesters staged a demonstration on a major highway near the stadium to highlight what they said were shortages of housing, water, transport and electricity in the area.
Inside the stadium, the festive atmosphere was overshadowed by a fatal incident shortly before kickoff, when a man died after falling from a box seat area.
Authorities said the man was intoxicated. He attempted to jump from the second-level box seats to the first level by climbing along the exterior of the structure before falling to the ground floor, they said.
REUTERS
