When I first arrived in Brazil in 2011, I was greeted by an overwhelming of the senses. I felt as if I had entered into a vibrant cultural maze where the language, the rhythms, the people – everything was intense and unfamiliar. This was the very beginning, the culture shock phase, of the sublime eight months that I spent living in Brazil as a student of international development at Pontifícia Universidade Católica in Rio de Janeiro. However, it was not long before I found a touchstone. As it so happened, this touchstone was something that acts as an anchor for a vast majority of the Brazilian people – o jogo bonito, the beautiful game.
I had never followed soccer, yet from the window of my Tijuca apartment, I heard every game, until I finally joined the crowd at the botequo below to watch. Over my months in Brazil, I felt the contagious pull of my new friends’ enthusiasm. Now, in the wake of Brazil’s catastrophic loss to Germany, the World Cup Victors, I find myself wondering what kind of legacy this mega-event will leave behind.
Controversy
This tournament has not wanted for controversy. According to a recent Pew research study, 61% of Brazilians feel that the World Cup was bad for the nation. Throughout the past year, this majority has been vocal in criticizing FIFA and the Brazilian Government for their lack of transparency, corruption and superfluous spending of funds sorely needed elsewhere.
While Brazil may be the economic powerhouse of Latin America, it suffers from stark levels of socioeconomic inequality, with a GINI Index that positions it among the 20 most unequal countries in the world. In cities across Brazil, vast numbers of Brazilians live as quasi-citizens at higher risk of unemployment, violence and hunger. At least one third of the residents of Rio live as squatters in illegitimate and inadequate housing amalgamations called favelas. As a student in Brazil, I worked with several of these communities to trace the legacy of public policy for residents, including violent government ‘pacification’ programs and the alleged removal of 200,000 city dwellers to make room for infrastructure for the World Cup and the Olympics. These drastic actions coincide with the $13.6 billion being spent on infrastructure and security for the Brazilian games. In comparing my findings with global events, a pattern emerges. Trailing behind mega-events in developing nations, such as the games in Brazil, the World Cup in South Africa and Olympics in Beijing, is the shadow of aggressive urban removal policy and violence against the countries’ most vulnerable citizens.
Benefits
There is, however, a positive side to this World Cup equation. Millions of tourists, both Brazilian and international, flooded host cities, contributing to local economies, and many more are promised for the Olympics in 2016. The Brazilian government has wasted no time in calling this World Cup a win for tourism and transportation. In fact, FIFA claims that the World Cup has created over 300,000 permanent jobs. Arguably, this was also one of the greenest World Cups. FIFA has included environmental impact reduction as a World Cup goal since 2006 and implemented sustainable strategies such as recycling programs, renewable energy and efforts to offset emissions. Another benefit, is the Tournament’s role as a catalyst in opening a dialogue for change. The international press has given many Brazilians the opportunity for an open forum to air their grievances and ideas.
Moving Forward
Ultimately, while FIFA and the World Cup may have improved in terms of environmental sustainability, and have likely created a short-term stimulus to the Brazilian economy in terms of tourism and spending, I believe that the World Cup missed its mark in terms of social inclusion and upward mobility for the poor of Brazil. My hope is that the Olympics Committee as well as companies doing business in Brazil will take a hard look at these recent events and use FIFA’s lessons as impetus for change.
It is clear that Brazilians constitute a vocal population, unafraid to call out injustice when it is perceived. Brazilians are also more likely to do their research. In 2013, more than half (52 percent) of Brazilians researched a company’s business practices or CSR efforts, according to 2013 Cone Communications/Echo Global CSR Study. In fact, Brazilians are more likely than any other country to want companies to change the way they operate to align with greater societal needs (50 percent vs. 31 percent globally). The good news, however, is that 89 percent of Brazilians believe that it is “okay if a company is not perfect, as long as it’s honest about its efforts.”
As stakeholders in these mega-events and in the international business that they drive, Brazilians are interested and engaged in corporate responsibility. In a lesson that surprised many not familiar with the country, Brazil’s urban poor carried a weighty influence. While favelas and other poor communities may be marginalized, they are clearly not marginal voices. Future mega-event planners and others looking to do business with Brazil should remember this World Cup and engage with these population in order to create for themselves a more positive and sustainable legacy in Brazil.