Confederations Cup or not, the news is no longer on the ground in Brazil. She took to the streets. Tuesday June 18, demonstrations against the very high costs of the next Football World Cup brought together more than 250.000 people in the country's main cities. The international media widely reported it. Everyone sees it. Except Sepp Blatter.
The FIFA President made some very surprising remarks from Brazil, where he has been packing since the start of the Confederations Cup. After explaining that “people use the showcase of football and the presence of the international press to make certain claims”, Sepp Blatter assured in a Brazilian daily that “football is stronger than people's dissatisfaction. » Then, uninspired, he predicted: “We have a good tournament. I am sure the protests will die down. You will see that on the third day of the competition, things will calm down. »
Not really, actually. On Tuesday, more than 10.000 young people marched in the streets of Sao Paulo. The protest movement shows no real signs of running out of steam. It could even intensify, or even turn into confrontation, after the announcement this Wednesday of the government's sending of the National Force, an elite police force, to ensure security in five of the six Confederations Cup cities. A situation that the words of the FIFA president have little chance of mitigating, when he declares: “Brazil asked us to organize the World Cup. We did not impose it on them. » Clearly, the Brazilians wanted the event, that they get by with it, FIFA had nothing to do with it.
In fact, Sepp Blatter is not wrong. But, in Brazil as elsewhere, the addition of the biggest international sporting events often turns out to be steep for the populations. According to the latest figures published by the Brazilian government, the Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup are expected to cost at least 11 billion euros, or around 57 euros for each of the 194 million Brazilians. Not really trivial in a country where the minimum wage, increased at the start of the year, remains below 300 euros per month.
— Published June 19, 2013
