Fears about disorder and disruption at next year’s football World Cup in Brazil have been raised after the cancellation of Soccerex, a global football conference scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro next month.

While there is no doubt Soccerex has been cancelled, there is confusion over the reasons for doing so, as parties involved in hosting and operating the conference have accused each other for the move.

The organiser of the event, also called Soccerex, claims that Rio’s state government had called off next month’s event due to concerns about ongoing civil unrest in the country. The government, however, has strongly denied this, instead, claiming a funding dispute was the issue.

The gathering was due to take place at Rio’s Maracana Stadium, one of 12 stadiums which will be used as venues for the 2014 World Cup.

Rio’s state government said the event, run by the UK-based Soccerex, had failed to raise sufficient private funds to cover the cost of the three-day conference and that it was not prepared to fill the gap with additional funding.

The organisers of the event said that they would be taking legal action against the responsible authorities in Rio with a statement reading: “Preparations for the event were well advanced with content planned, speakers confirmed and partnerships in place.

“To be summarily cancelled in such a cavalier fashion, having hosted 33 events over five continents is extremely frustrating but nevertheless it has happened and is in contravention of all the contractual obligations of the Rio state government, who have been notified of our intention to instigate legal proceedings for substantial compensation.”

Despite the cancellation of the event, FIFA has played down talks of heightened security fears for the World Cup. A sharp fall in the value of Brazilian currency has sparked a number of protests this year, many of which have turned violent.

Protesters have complained about corruption and the levels of spending on hosting both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, which many feel could be better spent on public services, better public schools, hospitals and transportation.