World Cup Costs Causing Outrage, Says Estonian in Brazil
The football World Cup, due to start in less than a month, has polarized Brazil.
Half of the nation is waiting to celebrate the event while the other half is using the media spotlight to speak out, said Erik Henno, a former Estonian journalist who has lived in São Paulo the last 10 years.
When Brazil was awarded the event seven years ago, the whole nation was united in belief that the decision was the only correct move, Henno told sport.err.ee on Tuesday.
He said the money spent on construction have been far higher than most imagined, with a 45,000 capacity stadium demolished in the capital, Brasília, and a 72,000 capacity stadium built in its place that cost 600 million euros in a city without a significant club football team.
Many of those who had supported the news seven years ago have taken to the streets to demand its cancellation, with bus drivers, teachers and even police officers protesting, Henno said.
He said many Brazilians have become reconciled to the fact that the games will take place, but have questioned the logic of holding the Olympics in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
The cost of the World Cup for Brazil this year has been estimated at approximately 10 billion euros, with the Olympics that will follow two years later expected to cost 13 billion euros. Both tournaments would bring in billions of euros in broadcasting rights and sponsorships, but most of that would go directly to FIFA and the IOC respectively, leaving Brazil deep in the red.