Dental-floss bikinis, carnival, samba, and soccer – that’s the façade Brazil typically presents to the world. After living in the country for more than three years, I can safely say that perception isn’t too far off, particularly when it comes to Brazilians’ love of “the beautiful game”. Like most, I saw the Confederations Cup as an opportunity for Brazil to prove its detractors wrong and show the world that it was ready to step into the limelight to host the upcoming major sporting events. What could be more important for the “spiritual home of soccer”? And while Brazilians aren’t renowned for being overly meticulous in their approach to planning, we were all fairly certain they’d manage to pull it off by gametime.  

The first sign that some Brazilians had a different take on things came the week prior to the opening match, when protests began in São Paulo in response to a 9-cent rise in bus fares. Isolated instances of heavy-handed police response blew that spark into an all-out blaze. Latent discontent erupted into protest in cities across the country. Suddenly, the focus turned to Brazil’s chronic economic and social issues, and to perceived government largesse in its spending for the upcoming major sporting events. Posters with the phrase “Cup for Who?” – helpfully translated into both Portuguese and English for international audiences – became a regular presence and rallying cry for the protestors, who had come to see both the Confederations and World Cups as symbolic of corruption and waste. [Read more…]