体坛英语新闻：Brazil faces uphill battles in World Cup preparation

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 1 (Xinhua) -- There have been delays to construction works, political infighting and allegations of corruption on Brazil's way of preparing for the 2014 World Cup.

Just six days after fan riots caused the deaths of Andre Alves Lezo and Guilherme Vinicius before a Corinthians-Palmeiras Sao Paolo state championship match, another supporter has been murdered in the Brazilian state of Goias.

Police confirmed Goias fan Diego Rodrigo Costa de Jesus, 23, was gunned down during a fight with Vila Nova supporters in the city of Goiania on Saturday night.

Nine people have been arrested and a gun belonging to one of the suspects seized, police said.

Last week, Palmeiras coach Luiz Felipe Scolari made an emotional plea for gangs to make peace amid heightening security concerns among supporters.

"We need to stop this, think a bit about life," Brazil's 2002 World Cup winning coach said.

"How can you bring a family back together when a son has been lost needlessly? It's nonsense fighting about football.

"I will make myself available to help in any way possible to put an end to the reckless loss of lives."

The incidents come as Brazil pushes ahead with plans to use the World Cup to promote disarmament.

Last December, the government's World Cup Commission revealed a proposal to exchange civilian-owned firearms for World Cup tickets.

"The guns for tickets idea is one of many that we are putting forward," federal congressman Vicente Candido told Xinhua.

"We want to reinforce to the world that Brazil is a country of incredible natural beauty, fun-loving people and wonderful football, not violence."

Official match balls and signed team shirts are other items being considered to lure gun owners, Candido said.

The initiative also includes a plan to use recycled scrap metal from firearms as goalposts for the event.

There are approximately eight million illegally owned guns in Brazil, according to a report by Sou da Paz Institute last year.

The Brazilian government currently offers anonymity and amnesty to civilians who hand in illegal firearms.

It is part of a broader plan to rid the country of its violent reputation, a promise it made upon winning the right to host the World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.

Last November, police scored a major victory in its battle with Rio de Janeiro's violent drug gangs by seizing control of the Rocinha favela, days after arresting chief drug lord Antonio Bonfim Lopes.

Home to an estimated 100,000 people, Rocinha is considered one of the biggest slums in Latin America and, until last November, the cradle of Rio's illicit drugs and arms trade.