World Cup 2014: Excuses For Corruption

Article written by my brother, Limonada.

A major Brazilian newspaper announced today that the Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo will not be hosting the opening game of the 2014 World Cup, or any other game for that matter. After a long battle between FIFA and São Paulo FC (who owns the stadium) regarding the renovation projects, FIFA’s general-secretary Jerome Valcke will be coming to Brazil to give the bad news. Plan B, however, is already in place and a new stadium should be built to host games in São Paulo.

The interesting part of this story, however, is not the fact that one of the best stadiums that Brazil currently has was denied to host games, or all the bureaucracy involved in this issue. It is the comments this article received from the Brazilian readers. Excluding comments from people who support other teams other than São Paulo FC (and that are happy to hear the bad news) most comments complain about how this is a typical representation of Brazilian politics. Too much corruption and too much time to solve problems.

If indeed a new stadium is built, not only more public money will be spent (another common complaint by the public) but it will also give politicians more opportunities to steal from the people. With all that, many are asking if Brazil is ready to have a World Cup; not because they aren’t able to prepare for it (and I am sure it will be a great World Cup) but because maybe this money should be spent in other, more urgent, matters such as health and education.