I come from a country where soccer plays a very important role.
It is the ultimate entertainment, the sport all children play while growing up,
the one some make a career out of it, an escape for the middle-class worker
during the week, the fun of the weekends, the joy of the people. Brazilians are
in love with soccer. So to be the host of its biggest event in the world should
be an honor to my country: but there is a lot more to the World Cup 2014 than
soccer.
Even though their love for soccer is bigger than most
things, Brazilians are having a tough time accepting what comes with the World
Cup. An estimate of
the Brazilian Ministry of Sports points out that R$ 22 billions (roughly US$ 9,5
billions) have been spent by the government in order to attend FIFA’s demands
for the event. For the people it's a sum that could have been invested in
education, health care and security, areas with problems faced for quite a
while. In fact, protests have been going on all over Brazil since the beginning
in 2013, claiming “Copa não, educação” (Not the World Cup, but education) and
also a stop to corruption, violence and other issues.
It came to FIFA’s attention that the riots might get stronger
and be a threat to the event. Extra demands were made regarding the stadiums’
security and structure. But to this day the protests go on, and it's quite
clear that there is much more to a live event than stage management, contracts,
artists and all the other components of a big production. Organizations have to
understand the current context of the host area, the possible issues they may
face because of its social and economic conditions and even if it’s worth it to
have it in the first place.
For FIFA it's a quick “yes”: this is going to be the most
profitable World Cup in history. They should make approximately US$ 5 billions, 35% more
than in 2010 and 110% more than in 2006. Even with all the protests, the delay
in construction (sixstadiums are no close to being finished), accidents happening (at one of
the arenas, “Itaquerão”, in São Paulo, a crane fell and killed two workers), and still
major issues with public transport, accommodations for the tourists, public
security and not enough trained professionals, everyone wants to go to the “soccer
country” for the World Cup: more than 500 million tourists are expected to go
to Brazil and expend over US$ 3 billion during the event.
That and all other investments made by private parties and
the greatness of the Cup itself represent approximately a US$ 90 billions impact to
Brazil’s economy. Sometimes it fails to the people to see that not all is bad
when the world is paying moreattention to you. Of course that social issues cannot be forgotten, but
Brazil can get more from the World Cup than Brazilians might think.
