The Brazil Controversy Of 2014

Ever since FIFA, the governing body of soccer, has been around, attention was drawn to the ‘Beautiful Game’ in a positive light. Brandishing the strong motto “For the Game, For the World,” it’s easy to assume they would be supportive of the countries in which they are involved.

The quadrennial FIFA World Cup, which has been around since 1930, holds the title for the biggest single-sporting event in the world. It has also recently become more popular among teens due to the FIFA video game, which first came out in 1997 but has updated in years since.

With all the joy FIFA brings to many around the world, it can be very hard to see the organization could have a dark history of cheating and bribes. The Brazil controversy of 2014 came as a shock

To understand the issue in its entirety, a light must be shone on the controversies that have came up over the years before now. In 2014, a huge corruption scandal was released involving FIFA president Sepp Blatter taking millions of dollars in bribes from Brazil. In 2007, Blatter made the announcement to the world that “Brazil has not only the right, but the responsibility to organize FIFA's World Cup 2014." (Blatter). These words, ringing in the ears of 190 million Brazilians, gave them a sense of hope. Community. The Brazilians were happy for their country’s involvement with “The Beautiful Game,” which happens to be the most popular sport in the country. Unbeknownst to them, those words were spoken by a man many would be booing off the stage of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup (Peck), a prelude to all World Cups since 1992, because of the corruption and controversies yet to unravel. He seemed to have forgotten that Brazil’s GDP ranking is 107th, behind the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica,

Tearing down peoples houses and evicting them from them as well proved horrible for FIFA. 170,000 people were removed from their homes in order to put up soccer stadiums that would only be in purpose for a little over 2 months while the Cup was going on. While these buildings were being put up, a total of eight workers died due to unsafe operation because of demanding deadlines (Associated Press). In Qatar, hundreds of slave labor workers are dying each year from working in excruciating heat (Conn). FIFA also taking millions of dollars in bribes from the host countries, only to have most citizens end up hating the idea of having the World Cup hosted in their country, was not well thought out either. A protest organizer in Brasilia, the nation’s capital, wanted to convey his message to the government. “We want the Brazilian government to ask the nation’s forgiveness because it promised something it never delivered. It invested a fortune of public money in things that weren’t necessary.” (Lasusa) An entire nation’s distaste for their government’s choice is certainly not the choice FIFA could have made “for the world.” In 2015, Sepp Blatter was was arrested, along with 15 other FIFA officials, in Zurich and was promptly fired and banned from the sport for