The protests and riots in Brazil seem to have a number of issues at their heart, but one of them seems to be the scandalous prices for world cup tickets, and the fact that FIFA takes a guaranteed profit from the hosts, leaving the host country to foot the bill should costs escalate. Blatter has been unusually quiet, but has now come out and said that he feels FIFAs reputation has been enhanced by what has happened. This was posted on the BBC news website: "Fifa has come out of this stronger, with our image enhanced. Football has played a positive part here and given emotion," Blatter said. "When we say football connects people, it connected people in the stadium, perhaps unfortunately it also connected people in the street." Blatter said he had sympathy with the issues being raised by the peaceful protests and he went on to say that he hoped the government would clear up the social unrest before next summer's World Cup. He said: "I can understand this social unrest, absolutely, I can understand it. But on the other hand, football brings at this time to the whole continent, because Brazil is a continent, these emotions and hope that the cabinet can change something. "This is not our problem, it is a political problem, but we hope something will be changed so that by the time the World Cup begins next summer we can have a platform to deliver it. I have no time for Blatter or many of the coruupt self serving bureaucrats who milk FIFA for all its worth, but I think this shows how totally out of touch Blatter really is. Is there a real possibility that the World Cup in Brazil might be at risk?
I'd say there is a real possibility. Brazil has one of the world's greatest income gaps. However, even the poorest have acces to internet and social networking. What better opportunity for the people to revolt than when your country is hosting the biggest sporting event in the world?
The world cup will not be in doubt. The social unrest would have to get to the point where stadiums are being burnt down before that happens. There is no back up. Remember, a year before the Olympics London was in flames, and they all went off OK. The fact that Blatter is out of touch is neither here no there. That's a given, but He is standing down at the end of this term.
Is he? Doesn't he just rewrite the rules...there's probably a subclause that allows him to continue after death.
He is standing down at the end of this term ______________________________________ I reckon he'll cling.
Not only does FIFA take a huge profit out of every World Cup, they aggressively protect their sponsors by ensuring local business' are unable to link themselves to the event, as well as negotiating a deal whereby they pay no tax at all to the host country. It's a morally reprehensible circus imo. That said, I don't think the World Cup in Brazil is under threat. Armed police have already begun incursions into the favelas in most large cities. The country will be on lockdown in 2014, although there will be plenty of eruptions I'm sure. You can't sustain indefinately the sort of gulf between rich and poor that is endemic in Brazil, without provoking the mayhem that is currently engulfing Syria and North Africa, for example.
There is always talk of social unrest before every major sporting event. Even our very own 'Lympics 12 was blighted by the media of stories of 'blowin' up stadia' by the islamic extremists! It's just a massive rouse. There is literally 0 chance of it being moved or postponed, that would be an even bigger waste of money than the tournemant is to host in the first place! Also, Brazil's income gap shrinks every year. If you look at the history of the worlds most economically developed nations, they all went through times where the rich earned oodles more than the poor. It levels out to a points eventually, like it has in most of Western Europe and to some extent the USA.
Brazil is 30 years ahead of Syria and North Africa economically! It's just the fact that so many cameras are on Brazil at the moment, it is the perfect time for protest, as they the extra exposure will capture the hearts of Billions rather than Millions!
It would be a bit like the WWF putting profits before conservation. The trouble is FIFA is a feudal system that has no real competitors, it is a law unto itself strengthened by all the television money it receives. In Germany 2006 people were made to take off trousers with incorrect sponsors and not allowed to take water into the stadium as it was not Coke water. Fans can suffer with disregard so long as the demand and television money continues to support the regime. Only if an alternative governing body and World Cup was set up would it have to change. There are massive inequalities in Brazil and it must seem incredibly unfair to those on the breadline to see that the government is giving tax payers money to FIFA (a bit like our government bailing out banks, who little deserve it), but all countries bend over backwards, like we did for the Olympics except people in this country do not protest. Discontent is beginning to spread: Egypt, Greece, Turkey and only with desperation comes revolution and change.
