The protests were primarily concerned with the spending of billions of reais of public money on stadiums for the World Cup. Prior to 2014, social movements opposed to Brazil hosting the Cup garnered support during the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2013. The Facebook group Movimento Anti-Copa de Decoração de Ruas gained more than 15,000 Likes in a little over a month.
On January 25, 2014, protesters clashed with the military police in central São Paulo. According to the organization's official Facebook account, 108 people were arrested by military police and a further 20 arrests were made by civil police, totaling 128 arrests before midnight. in São Paulo critical of the expenditures of the World Cup. On May 27, 2 protesters blocked the streets in central Brasília, near the Monumental Axis, caused traffic congestion. Among the protesters were 300 aboriginals who went to the capital to protest changes in laws concerning the demarcation of indigenous land. The protest ended in a confrontation with the military police, where a cavalryman was struck by an arrow. On May 31, 2014 protesters marched from the Ministries Esplanade to the football stadium before ending the demonstration peacefully. The following day, military police in São Paulo began using specialized suits of armor referred to as 'Robocop', which were intended to maintain control over protests during the World Cup. On June 3, a group of about 50 protesters in Goiânia gathered in front of the hotel where the Brazilian team was staying prior to an exhibition match against Panamá. The protesters were connected with trade unions and left wing political groups, with pickets demanding fair pay for professors and health professionals.
Events during the World Cup
The demonstrations of 2014 were generally smaller than those that occurred during the FIFA Confederations Cup in the previous year, but protesters and police clashed in almost every city hosting the games of the World Cup. In the first week of the Cup, there were more than 20 protests and 180 arrests across the various cities, many resulting in police action. On June 12, at least six were injured in São Paulo when military police threw gas grenades and fired rubber bullets at protesters. Two CNN journalists were among those injured. Governor Geraldo Alckmin of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party justified the aggression of the military police saying that their goal was to prevent the protesters from blocking a major traffic artery leading to the football stadium. In Porto Alegre on June 24, around 200 protesters gathered in the city center and travelled toward the airport. The group was monitored by police, and disbursed with one protester being arrested for deflating the tires of a car. In São Paulo, June 23, an unidentified man in a black shirt fired a gun three times into the air as police were arresting a protester. Protesters say that the man was trying to scare away those critical of the arrest. Police said they would investigate whether the shooter was actually a member of the police. Three people were arrested during the act, among which Rafael Lusvarghi. On July 13, the final day of the Cup, police in Rio de Janeiro injured at least ten journalists with clubs, and shrapnel from tear gas grenades. Police kettled the 300 protesters, preventing them from marching to their destination, Maracanã Stadium. Military Police told BBC Brazil that they would forward reports of police abuse to Internal Affairs.
Events
Reasons of the protest continuation are pointed also by Romário, ex-player and member of the Parliament, that dubbed the World Cup 2014 as the "biggest theft in history", and that the real costs would be over R$100 billion. Romário now is one of the few parliament members that wants a deeper investigation on the misuse of public funds. Before the opening game of the World Cup on 12 June, police clashed with protesters in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and several other host cities. Tear gas was used on crowds in São Paulo. While covering the protest on June 12, CNN Reporter Shasta Darlington and CNN producer Barbara Arvanitidis were injured. Barbara Arvanitidis was directly hit on the wrist by a tear gas bomb whilst they were reporting the indiscriminate use of riot weapons.
