Over 1 million people lined the streets across Brazil on 20th
June to protest about a variety of injustices from Dilma Rousseff’s government.
A proposed rise in Sao Paulo bus fares was the catalyst, but the reasons behind
the demonstrations have flitted between the interconnected motives of anger at
poor public services, outrage at the pervasiveness of political corruption and
the lavish expenditure on the 2014 World Cup.
At 28 billion rials ($12.6 billion), Brazil’s World Cup is
by far the most expensive ever - three times the cost of Germany 2006.
Considering the plight of public services across much of the country, it would
appear that the protestors have a legitimate grievance.
Writing in the Guardian last week (and having spoken to the BBC
a few weeks ago), star striker-turned-Congressman Romario lamented the expense
of the tournament. Even if we must take Romario’s comments with a pinch of
party political salt, he still makes a number of interesting and valid points.
What stood out to me was the tax-free profit of R$4 billion FIFA stands to make
from the tournament. Equally, the terrible state into which Brazil’s school
system has got itself makes it almost surprising that the protests took so long
to erupt. Though falling export demand has lead to dwindling GDP growth and
inflationary pressures over the past couple of years, which has undoubtedly
jolted awake any previously dormant social tensions.
The fact that the protestors are not affiliated to one of
Brazil’s thirty political parties has meant that their message hasn’t been as
clear as it might have. What is clear, however, is that most Brazilians are not
against the World Cup per se, but they are angry about the lack of ‘legacy’
that the tournament will have. According to The
Economist, airports remain mired in the last century and at least five of
the host cities have admitted that the bus lanes, metros and monorails they had
promised will not be ready before kickoff.
There is, though, a sizable group who are anti-World Cup;
their message is outlined in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZApBgNQgKPU).
But the sentiment of the video seems clouded to me, it kind of suggests that
the World Cup should only be held in rich, developed countries which would be
detrimental to world football as a whole in my opinion. Clearly the government
has spent way beyond its means but I don’t think confining future World Cups to
OECD countries is the answer.
FIFA has, quite rightly, come in for a fair amount of
criticism firstly for the extravagance of the plans for the World Cup and
secondly for its handling of the resulting protests. Corinthians has blamed
FIFA for doubling the cost of its new stadium with its lavish demands.
Moreover, Brazilian officials were apparently “surprised” by
the fact that Sepp Blatter high-tailed it out of the country as soon as the
unrest erupted. These officials are either extremely polite or unaware of the
calibre of man they are dealing with. FIFA has been unsurprisingly silent on
the issue but to be fair it is probably not in their interest to get involved
in Brazilian domestic affairs.
The fact is that the protests have instigated change: a new
constituent assembly to consider political reform; making corruption a felony
(previously it was just a misdemeanour); a promise to invest $R50 billion; and
increased spending on health and education. This is an undeniably positive
outcome that has, according to Rousseff, “strengthened democracy” in Brazil. But
it does set a precedent for potential further unrest in twelve months time the
next time the world is watching.
It is a shame in a way that what has been a thoroughly
entertaining Confederations Cup on the pitch will most probably be remembered
for the accompanying protests. My only hope is that, like the British did last
summer, the next summer’s World Cup will lift Brazilian spirits and leave them
looking forward to – rather than dreading – the Olympics they are staging in
2016.
Next summer Football Beyond Borders will go to Salvador in Brazil to put on the "Legacy Games", a project that aims to bring students from around the world together with local communities to work on long-lasting solutions to social problems in their city. If you would like to find out more about our Brazil 2014 project, please email jreynolds@footballbeyondborders.org
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