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England's friendly with Brazil at the Maracana on Sunday has been suspended over concerns about the venue’s safety – although the game may still go ahead.

The historic Rio de Janeiro stadium has spent the last three years being renovated so it can form the centrepiece of next s­ummer’s World Cup in the South American nation.

But a judge concluded on Thursday that the ground was not safe for the public to use and that the game could not take place.

The State Government has said it will appeal the ruling, insisting that all the required safety guidelines had been met and blaming the current situation on bureaucratic problems.

The judge that handed down the ban insisted that he was left with no choice by ­incompetent officials:

“At this moment we have no news that the restrictions were amended to a level of safety that would be expected at this stage,” Judge Adriana Costa dos Santos said in a statement.

“Therefore, due to the laziness of the people responsible, in this case, the defendants, we cannot allow the ­stadium to be re-inaugurated without proof that it is safe and hygienic.”

Later reports stated a safety certificate will be issued on Friday, allowing the match to go ahead at the Maracana.

The Football Association's Adrian Bevington is quoted in The Independent as saying: "We are working on the basis that the game is going ahead. We've not been told any differently.

"There's a lot of conversations going on at the moment but we're planning as normal to play the match."

However, if the documentation is not filed and the Maracana is impossible as a venue, the Brazilian ­Federation will run into further difficulty in finding another Rio venue.

The Engenhao Stadium is the city’s second-largest and has been the home of Flamengo and Fluminense during the Maracana's renovation.

Despite only being built in 2007 for the Pan American games, the 47,000-seater stadium was closed indefinitely in March after engineers found problems with the roof.

The shock news comes just hours after England arrived in Rio, following Wednesday's draw with the Republic of Ireland.