• Incident involved Mauricio Pinilla and Brazil spokesman • Rodrigo Paiva admits ‘shove’ but says he acted in self defence

Fifa is investigating a bust-up at the World Cup after claims the Chile striker Mauricio Pinilla was punched by Brazil’s communications director Rodrigo Paiva at half-time during Saturday’s match. Paiva, a well-known figure in Brazilian football, has admitted to shoving Pinilla but said that he did so only in self-defence.

Fifa’s disciplinary committee is believed to have access to video footage and pictures of the incident in Belo Horizonte.

A scuffle broke out as the teams headed to the dressing rooms in the Estádio Mineirão, sparked by the Brazil striker Fred slapping Gary Medel on the back of the head as they walked off the pitch.

Brazil media said Paiva and the Chile assistant manager Sebastián Beccacece were involved in a confrontation which ended Paiva punching Pinilla. Paiva said there was pushing between the squads and added: “It was not just me. Pinilla came towards me and I just defended myself. I reacted by pushing him.”

Pinilla, who plays for Italian side Cagliari, came off the bench and nearly won the match for Chile but his shot in the last seconds of the match struck the cross-bar.

The striker was then one of three Chile players to miss penalties in the shoot-out which Brazil won 3-2 to go through to the quarter-finals.