The first of three major international sporting events in Brazil begins next month, with football's Confederations Cup pitting three former world champions, including the hosts, against the current title holders, Spain, and outsiders Mexico, Nigeria, Japan and tiny Tahiti. But the traditional curtain-raiser to the most-watched sporting event on the planet -- next year's World Cup -- will be watched as much for the action off the pitch as on it.

Rio de Janeiro, May 11 (EFE).- A Brazilian judge has suspended the decision to grant a concession for the Maracana stadium to a private consortium headed by Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht, judiciary officials said. Rio de Janeiro state Judge Gisele de Faria on Friday granted a request for an injunction filed by the autonomous Public Prosecutor's Office of Brazil, or MP, which argued that the Rio state government should not be allowed to sign any concession-related contract until Brazil's courts can rule on the lawfulness of the process.

Rio's mythical Maracana Stadium reopens Saturday for an exhibition match that will serve as a first test ahead of the Confederations Cup in June and the World Cup next year. Built for the 1950 World Cup, it underwent two years of extensive renovation in order to be ready to host four Confederations Cup matches as well as seven World Cup games next year, including the finals of both tournaments.

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil will expand services and step up security at its airports that will see a surge in traffic in June when an estimated 335,000 soccer fans travel to attend Confederations Cup games, aviation authorities said on Thursday. Civil Aviation Minister Wellington Moreira Franco announced a plan to increase by 77 percent the number of police, customs and immigration officials and airport workers to avoid delays at airports in the six cities hosting the games, plus Sao Paulo's Guarulhos airport, the country's largest connections hub.