Sao Paulo has tightened security ahead of the first NFL game in South America after players voiced concerns about traveling to Latin America’s largest country, the Brazilian state said Wednesday.
Brazil will host the game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers on Friday at Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo, the first NFL game on the continent and the first Week 1 game held on a Friday evening since 1970.
Eagles players have questioned security in the city, the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.
“We had a meeting with a whole bunch of ‘don’t do’s.’ So, I’m just trying to go down there, win a football game and come back home,” wide receiver A.J. Brown told reporters last week.
He said players were advised not to walk on the streets holding cellphones.
“Week 1 I’m looking forward to it, I can’t wait,” Darius Slay Jr. said recently on his “Big Play Slay” podcast. “But man, I do not want to go to Brazil, you want to know why? I’m here to tell you why. They already told us not to leave the hotel. They told us we can’t do too much going on because the crime rate is crazy …
“I’m like, NFL why y’all wanna send us somewhere where the crime rate is this high and we out the country? You know, the first thing people are thinking is like some terror could possibly happen. I told my family do not come down there because I’m not going to be nowhere to be found. I’m going to be in the hotel chilling, minding my business, playing my game after a long 9½-hour flight.”
On Tuesday night, Slay apologized “to anyone I offended” in a post to X.
I want to apologize to anyone I offended, that wasn’t my intention. I’m
Looking forward to playing in your beautiful country and i’ve heard yall are very passionate just like our amazing Eagles fan. Just a few more days, can’t wait!!!! #FlyEaglesFly— Darius Slay (@bigplay24slay) September 4, 2024
The Sao Paulo state government said it would delegate specialized civil and military police battalions to reinforce security during the game and place police officers on streets and trains, and at subway stations, hotels and tourist attractions.
“To guarantee the safety of the players, the military police will reinforce the number of personnel upon arrival of the delegations at the Guarulhos Airport and escort the teams to their hotels, training sites and the stadium,” it said in a statement. Authorities will also carry out a sweep at the stadium before the games.
Brazil in 2023 ranked as the 17th-most dangerous country in the world by murder rate, according to Statista data, below Latin American peers such as Ecuador and Mexico — where the NFL has held games since 2005 with security concerns also voiced.
Sao Paulo state says the local homicide rate is four times lower than the national average and compares to that of California, while standing below Washington, D.C., for example.
Both the Eagles and Packers are departing for Brazil on Wednesday.
Reuters contributed to this report.