Football
fans all around the world are awaiting the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup that is
set to take place from June 12 to July 13, 2014 in Brazil. However, the super
event hasn’t only made the headlines with sport related topics, but also with many
controversies surrounding the preparations for it. People always argue that
countries that host big sports events such as the World Cup or the Olympics get
a big economic boost and that thousands of new jobs are created, but the
reality often looks different. To host the World Cup, the Brazilian government
had to build a number of new, modern football stadiums and create
infrastructure around these. The cost of all this is obviously incredible high
and people in Brazil aren’t happy with the government’s ways to finance all
these projects. The main issue is that they feel that the government spends too
much money they don’t have on the World Cup and ignores problems of the country
that have been existing for years.
That people
weren’t happy with the World Cup was clear since the preparations for it had
begun, but the first big demonstrations that caught global attention happened during
the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2013 (a kind of “rehearsal tournament” for the
actual World Cup). The demonstrations were initially organized to protest
against increased prices of bus, train and metro tickets in many Brazilian
cities, but they eventually grew into a much bigger affair. In the end people also
protested against matters such as government corruption, high taxes, social
issues like LGBTQ and women’s rights and the brutality the police used against
protesters. Demonstrators destroyed buses, set cars on fire and threw homemade
bombs. They police answered using tear gas and pepper spray to fight them back.
The protests eventually died down in the beginning of July 2013 when President
Dilma Rousseff promised to spend 50 billion Brazilian reais to improve the
Brazilian public transportation system and lower taxes.
But one
year later the situation is still not much better. Even though public transport
and some other matters the protesters raised in 2013 were improved, people are
still unhappy. Only a few days before the World Cup the FIFA worries again
about demonstrators on the streets of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In São
Paulo metro workers were on strike for days which led to a 293 km traffic jam –
a new record high. Even though the strike has ended for now, nobody can be sure
that no other strikes will take place during the next few days. Additionally to
demonstrations São Paulo has another problem: Their stadium, where the opening
game of the World Cup is set to be played, isn’t completely finished yet. In
Rio de Janeiro teachers have been protesting in the last few days. They request
higher salaries and better schools because they feel that the government is
spending way too little money on education in Brazil. 
The World
Cup in Brazil has two sides. On the one hand all these negative occurrences
don’t sound inviting and don’t promise the great party the Brazilian government
tries to sell the rest of the world. On the other hand Brazil loves football
and the people are especially enthusiastic towards their national team. I personally
love watching the World Cup or the Olympics, but in recent years I had the
impression that every host country had to be better, more impressive and
luxurious than the one before. I understand that stadiums and infrastructure have
to be built, but countries like Brazil that have so many other problems have to
look past the sports event and to the needs of their own people. In the end I’m
sure that the World Cup will still be a great party and most of it will
probably run smoothly enough. However, I’m also sure that the problems in Brazil won't disappear into thin air after the World Cup is over.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_protests_in_Brazil
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_protests_in_Brazil
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