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The Inherent Blindness Surrounding the 2014 World Cup Games

Omar Alansari-Kreger

As much as international observers enjoy the World Cup we often underestimate
the human cost of its accommodations. Similar to any other leisurely sport, when the
games and festivities are over the international football/soccer commissions and
organizations leave the host nation with an arbitrary assumption that something
invaluable has been invested into it. The masses are largely fixated on visual
distractions that fail to observe what is beyond the face value of things; although the
World Cup has generated a great deal of publicity for Brazil the beneficial investments
that have derived from the games are all temporary in nature.
The spoils of the games are awarded to a select few while most Brazilians return
to life as it once was before the arrival of the World Cup as if nothing happened. The
problem with any nation emerging out of its own developmental gap is its eagerness to
showcase a sense of prosperity to outsiders, but the difference between that fabricated
reality in Brazil as it relates to the World Cup games is as great as night and day. The
shanty urban boroughs were demolished in order to make the World Cup games
possible and most of the displaced families have set to collect any kind of restitution
from the state.
Billions are invested in creating state of the art facilities for the World Cup without
batting an eye toward the basic needs necessitated out of those impoverished urban
shanty towns near and around the new stadium. Most of that foreign money channeled
into Brazilian chauffeurs is back channeled into the deep pockets of the elite which
further undermines the great social gap between Brazils rich and poor. Perhaps the
World Cup games could have been facilitated with the notion of recognizing the plight of
Brazils poor by providing free admission as a way of showcasing some kind of
solidarity?
Unfortunately it becomes necessary to reconcile ourselves with the fact that such
a happening wouldnt witness the light of day simply because of two different factors
which are as follows: A) the ruling authorities in Brazil do not want to portray their nation
as a case for international welfare and B) the facilitators/initiators of the World Cup
realize that the essence of that approach makes the games totally uncompetitive or
unprofitable for business. All the while everyday Brazilians that live in the shanty urban
boroughs dont receive any residual benefit from the games other than temporal
entertainment.
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Here is a unique idea worth considering; what if an independent commission was
established by the World Cup with the purpose of collecting and dispatching an accrued
donation in the capacity of funds for local populations in developing nations? That
initiative would create a great humanitarian image for all major organizational bodies
affiliated with the making of the World Cup games. As a result, facilitators/initiators of
the World Cup could focus on staging the games in developing nations as a way of
raising international awareness for their populations while contributing a residual benefit
that goes directly to its public development! Of course, defending such contributions
from vultures of corruption would spell out an immense challenge.
That could truly serve as a gesture of good sportsmanship as people from all
over the world find peace in taking part in the games while providing a beacon of hope
for the worlds most vulnerably depraved. Surely the World Cup
commissions/organizations could spare a few million for that purpose, but helping
people isnt its end game because just like any other organization/industry it is
consumed by its bottom line which makes its friends rich and itself even richer.