Riots erupted Sunday night in Sao Pablo in a match between Athletico PR and Vasco de Gama, leaving many World Cup fans concerned about the safety in the stadiums for next summer’s tournament. One man was airlifted to the hospital in serious condition, while 3 others are being charged with attempted murder. FIFA is apparently downplaying the event and telling fans not to worry. FIFA representatives have stated that there will be specific perimeters around stadiums, as well as checkpoints to pass through to ensure safety. Karl Matchett, a World Football Writer, believes that, “inside the stadiums, there is seemingly a different demographic watching Brazil’s national team than the one that cheers on the club sides—at times with violent outcomes, such as that in Sao Paulo.” Maybe this is true and maybe racial classification will be different inside the stadiums during the 2014 World Cup…or is this just a way for FIFA to hush up the media?
I actually disagree with Vinay. In Brazil, there are many more parties and groups that are powerful, compared to just the ANC in South Africa. In Brazil, former stars such as Romario have been criticizing the world cup process:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/16/sports/soccer/romario-a-world-cup-champion-is-now-a-world-cup-dissenter.html?_r=0
Very interesting timing for something like this to happen. As you pointed out in your post, I think FIFA is going to make a strong effort to control the amount of coverage in the media that this will get and the reaction of the fans. I do believe that the World Cup matches will genuinely be much more regulated by security than the match shown above was. I also agree with Karl Matchett’s point that the demographic and attitude tends to shift when people are supporting their national team (rather than a club team). However, with the rising tension between the Brazilian people and the government, it will be interesting to see if certain fans/groups try to use the World Cup as a stage to promote awareness about the underlying problems. It seems like FIFA was pretty adept at quieting the revolts in South Africa during the 2010 World Cup (although I think that some of that was related to South Africa’s pride in hosting the first World Cup in Africa and desire to set a good example for years to come). In Brazil’s case, I think the passion and love for the national team and the game will overpower lingering tension/anger towards the government and limit rioting and fighting from happening.