Protesters have been warned that they will face a hail of rubber bullets if they engage in violent, unplanned protests during next year’s World Cup. Only six months remain until the start of the tournament, but questions remain over security and the stadia being used in Brazil.

Over a million protesters, angry at the money the government has spent on the World Cup among other issues, spilled on to the streets of Brazil during the Confederations Cup in the summer. Some of those protests turned ugly.

Although rubber bullets are obviously less lethal than metal ones, they can kill. Anarchist movement Black Bloc have warned that they will try to interrupt proceedings during the World Cup, and security is tight around the plush Costa do Sauipe resort where the draw is taking place tomorrow.

Met with force
But should they cause trouble next summer, protesters will be met with force, according to World Cup security adviser Andre Pruis, who helped in the planning of the largely trouble-free 2010 World Cup.

“If crowds get violent, do you think a water cannon is going to disperse them?” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “You have to disperse them. A rubber bullet is a low level of action. It hurts, but what are police going to do? Use a pea shooter? Or water cannons? It doesn’t work up to a point.”