Rio World Cup 2014 At Risk Of Being Cancelled? Violent Clashes Anew In Latest Protests over the Expensive Cost of Brazil’s Hosting Of Tournament
The Rio World Cup 2014 is at risk of being cancelled as street protests against the expensive cost of Brazil hosting the prestigious football tournament turn violent.
The British Ambassador to Brazil, Alex Ellis, already told fans of England to always be careful when traveling around the city to cheer on for their team.
"We don't quite know what kind of process there will be or how many there will be, so unpredictability is probably the big issue to be thinking about at the moment," he told MSN Fox Sports.
He said that if the England fans find themselves in the middle of a protest action, "find a way out, pull yourself back if you see any confrontation."
While BBC reported that the number of protesters was much lower compared to the previous demonstrations, it interviewed some of the organizers who promised that the protest actions "would get bigger and more frequent as the World Cup gets closer."
In June last year, over a million people took to the street to rile against the expensive cost of hosting Rio World Cup 2014, money which could have been better spent on public services.
Guilherme Boulos, the head of the Homeless Workers Movement, claimed that their aim is more "symbolic" than anything else.
"We don't want to destroy or damage the stadium. What we want is more rights for workers to have access to housing and to show the effects the Cup has brought to the poor," he told BBC.
Earlier, Brazilian sports minister Aldo Rebelo admitted to news.com.au that the Rio World Cup 2014 security has become a serious concern, but he quickly added that it's not as bad as the situation in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Although Rio de Janeiro has been having some "serious problems relating to security," he said that it's not likely "the English will confront greater threats in Manaus than in the Iraqi provinces or Afghanistan, where they recently lost hundreds of young soldiers."
