World Cup Diary

We already know what happened inside the stadiums (and trust me, that was hard for us brazilians). But what about what happened on the outside? How did Rio de Janeiro host a World Cup? We can say that 2014 World Cup was a success. Politicians were relieved that nothing went wrong and Brazil's image for the world was great. In the streets, people who were following the matches were happy, Copacabana became (even more) an international spot and Rio was just this meltpot crowded with people from every part of the world. But we had protests as well. Rio is a two side city. The South Zone is where the state's richest people live. The North, West Zone and the suburbs struggle with education, violence and public health. As a country, should we invest in providing basic care to the people who need - and have been waiting for a long time - or put money in building stadiums? This question made people go to the streets to protest against the Fifa event and the huge investments made in stadiums. And the ticktes for the games were so expensive that the World Cup in Brazil become a white & rich people event. It was a party for who could pay for it. A party for few. PS: Since 2016 the biggest brazilian operation against corruption, Lava Jato (Car Wash), proved that six of 12 stadiums were used by politicians to steal public money. The Maracanã for instance cost R$ 1 billion, different from the R$ 600 million previously predicted.