Brazilians Fire Back After Soccer Head Questions World Cup Host

Brazil’s government underlined the right of its citizens to protest after FIFA President Sepp Blatter said soccer’s governing body may have erred in selecting that country to host next year’s World Cup.

More than a million people took to Brazil’s streets during last month’s Confederations Cup, a test event for the World Cup, to demand better public services and to complain about the government spending almost 30 billion reais ($13.5 billion) on the World Cup.

A repeat of Brazil’s biggest demonstrations in two decades, which took place in all six World Cup host cities, would lead FIFA to conclude that awarding the biggest single-sport tournament to the country might have been a mistake, Blatter said.

“If this happens again we have to question whether we made the wrong decision awarding the hosting rights,” Blatter said.

FIFA spoke with government officials in Brazil after the host nation beat world champion Spain 3-0 in the June 30 final of the two-week Confederations Cup. Blatter said he plans to meet with Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff in September.

“We did emphasize the fact of this social unrest being there for the entire duration of the Confederations Cup,” Blatter said. “The government is now aware that next year the World Cup shouldn’t be disturbed.”

Clashes between police and demonstrators caused tear gas to waft inside Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana Stadium during the first half of the final of the tournament dubbed the “Demonstrations Cup” by protestors.

‘Democratic Country’

“The success of the Confederations Cup proves Brazil is the correct choice to host the World Cup,” Brazil’s sports ministry said in an e-mailed statement after Blatter’s comments. “As for the demonstrations, Brazil is a democratic country that guarantees its citizens full freedom of expression.”

Three months ago, Jerome Valcke, FIFA’s top administrator, said “less democracy is sometimes better for hosting a World Cup.”

Protests, which were triggered by a rise in bus fares, have diminished since the Confederations Cup. Demonstrators blocked traffic outside the home of Rio Governor Sergio Cabral yesterday and one woman held a banner saying “No World Cup.”

“These protests were like alarm bells for the government, the senate, the parliament,” Blatter said. “They should work on it so that this is not going to happen again.”

Brazil won the right to host the World Cup in October 2007 as the only remaining candidate following Colombia’s withdrawal six months earlier.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tariq Panja in Rio de Janeiro at tpanja@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Elser at celser@bloomberg.net