Why the 2014 FIFA World Cup Should Not Take Place in Brazil

Since it began in 1930, the FIFA World Cup has been the largest single event sports competition in the world. Every four years FIFA, the Fédération International de Football Association, calls upon thirty-two of the world’s greatest soccer teams to compete in the stadiums of the host country. In addition to having one of the top competing teams, Brazil will also be hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The 31 day tournament begins in Sao Paulo on June 12th and ends with the championship match in Rio de Janeiro on July 13th. In recent months Brazil has been busy preparing to host the tournament in twelve brand new stadiums around the nation. The World Cup will cost Brazil an estimated fourteen billion dollars, an amount that continues to increase as plans for the tournament become more elaborate. The amount of money the country will be spending on the tournament angers many of the nation’s citizens. Protests have become a daily occurrence in Brazil as citizens rally against the construction of stadiums and the arrangement of the expensive tournament. It has been argued that hosting the World Cup will benefit Brazil’s businesses and economy; however, the upper class will profit from the publicity of the games, not the thirty-five percent of the population living under the poverty level. The 2014 FIFA World Cup should not take place in Brazil due to the need for improvements in law enforcement, education, and the threat of extreme poverty.

On December 7th, 2013 a man from Ontario, Canada was attacked and killed while visiting Sao Paulo, the city where the first game of the World Cup will be held. This kind of mugging, robbing, kidnapping, and gang violence is a common occurrence in many cities in Brazil, the kind of incidents that would ...

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...mous soccer tournament and has lost track of the true problems in the nation, Brazil’s people need the government’s help more than FIFA does.

In conclusion, the FIFA World Cup should not take place in Brazil as it contributes to the nation’s security, education, and economic problems. The nation recently hosted the Confederate Cup, is preparing for the 2014 World Cup, and has already made plans to host the 2016 Summer Olympics; three events that will cost more money than the citizens of the nation can afford to lose. Instead of planning elaborate parties and building stadiums for sports events, Brazil should focus on problems the people of the country are truly passionate about. No one knows what is best for Brazil the way the citizens of the nation do, and all it takes is one look at the protestors’ signs to know that the World Cup is not what this country needs.