You’d think that hosting a World Cup, or an Olympics for that matter, would be a gloriously wonderful thing.
It’s not.
The taxpaying citizens of Rio de Janiero are going to be slammed twice, as basic infrastructure needs always take a back seat to appeasing the fat cats. That’s what always happens with both an Olympics and a World Cup, and Rio is hosting both in a two year span. Blame it on Rio for accepting this bargain. Or blame it on Brazil. Or FIFA. Or the IOC. It’s hard to believe that there is a sports organization more cartoonishly evil and utterly corrupt than the NCAA, but both FIFA and the IOC fall into that category.
So far in Rio we’ve seen: police fire tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets on protestors, skirmishes between cops and activists, threats of transit strikes, worries about stadiums being completed on time, a CNN reporter injured while reporting on the demonstrators, even a danger of J. Lo refusing to take the stage. And we’re only on day 2 of the World Cup.
Critics are furious at the Brazilian government for spending $11 billion on the World Cup instead of on low-income housing, hospitals and schools. Poverty, healthcare and education are all major issues facing the nation of Brazil, and all three are facets of life that are much more important than futbol.
For more on the inevitable “white elephants” from this World Cup, watch this clip from HBO Real Sports.
Also, you need to see Comedian John Oliver light up FIFA for what it really is.
Here to answer these issues and more is RedEye special contributor Matt Lindner. Follow him on Twitter @mattlindner.
In the podcast he talks Chicago Cubs development, gives you reasons why you should attend White Sox games, opines on the state of sports social media, the dark side of the World Cup in Brazil and much more.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. He’s also a frequent guest on talk shows across the world. Banks has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, Washington Times, NBC and the History Channel. President Barack Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)