The bus carrying Brazil’s FIFA World Cup squad to their first day of training on Monday was kicked and punched by demonstrators angry at what they consider the government’s exorbitant spending on soccer and not enough on social programs.
A small group of striking teachers attacked the bus as it left Rio de Janeiro for the mountain town of Teresopolis, where the squad will be based during world soccer’s elite tournament.
The teachers covered the bus with stickers as Barcelona players Neymar and Dani Alves looked on from inside.
Photo: EPA
When the bus arrived in Teresopolis, 100km away from Rio, another group of about 30 people swarmed it while chanting anti-World Cup slogans.
“This country’s priority shouldn’t be the World Cup, it should be improving health, education, housing and public transport,” said Rui Costa, a striking teacher who helped organize the protest.
Costa said that none of the houses promised to victims of a deadly flood in the area that killed about 1,000 people in 2011 had been delivered.
Photo: Reuters
Protesters allied to a far-left political party held up a banner that read in English: “Billions for the FIFA’s World Cup, no housing for the victims of the heavy rains of 2011. Do you think it is fair?”
The demonstrations ended peacefully, but they provided another warning of the potential pitfalls that the country faces as it struggles to host soccer’s biggest extravaganza.
During last year’s Confederations Cup — a FIFA competition that serves as a dress rehearsal for the hosts of the World Cup — hundreds of thousands of people took to streets across Brazil to protest bus fare hikes.
The grievances soon expanded to cover what protesters say is a lack of social spending and excess investment in soccer stadiums. None of the Confederations Cup matches were affected, but fans fought with riot police outside the arenas and tear gas was used.
“No one here is rooting against Brazil,” said Alex Trintino, the coordinator of a local teachers’ union. “This was a symbolic act against a country that doesn’t have money for health and education.”
The 23 players charged with helping Brazil win a record sixth World Cup title will be based at the Brazilian Football Confederation’s refurbished Granja Comary complex on the outskirts of Teresopolis throughout the month-long tournament, the first staged in the soccer-crazy nation since 1950.
Most of the players will undergo a battery of tests before they start physical and ball work today.
They face friendlies against Panama on Tuesday next week and Serbia on June 6, before they kick off the World Cup in Sao Paulo against Croatia on June 12.
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