Paulo Roberto de Almeida
The World Cup Is Bad for Brazil, Many Brazilians Say
The World Cup, the championship tournament of the world’s most popular sport, gets underway on June 12 in São Paulo, Brazil. In advance of the tournament, few Brazilians see hosting the event as advantageous for their country, a new survey shows.
In the survey by the Pew Research Center, 61 percent of respondents said holding the competition in Brazil was bad for the country because it took resources from schools, health care and other public services. Just 34 percent said the World Cup, whose events will be held in 12 cities, would create jobs and help the economy.
Inflation and joblessness are considered very big problems in the country, and two-thirds describe the economic situation as bad.
While 51 percent of those polled said they had an overall favorable opinion of President Dilma Rousseff, Brazilians’ assessment of her handling of specific concerns was far more negative. There is widespread disapproval of how Ms. Rousseff has been dealing with many of Brazilians’ top concerns, including corruption, crime, health care and education. Two-thirds said they disapproved of how she had been preparing for the World Cup, and nearly as many were unhappy with her stewardship of the economy.
The public is divided about the repercussions of the large street protests in Brazilian cities a year ago. Nearly half of the survey respondents, 47 percent, said the demonstrations benefited Brazil by bringing attention to important issues, while 48 percent said the country’s image was damaged internationally.
Brazilians are also split over how the World Cup will affect the country’s image around the world: 35 percent said it would enhance Brazil’s position, 39 percent said it would hurt Brazil, and 23 percent said it would have no effect. Three-quarters of Brazilians think the country deserves more respect internationally than it currently receives.
At the same time, Brazilians are feeling less confident about their country’s place in the world. Four years ago, during a previous national Pew survey of Brazil, 24 percent of respondents said it was already one of the most powerful nations, and 53 percent said it would eventually be. In the latest poll, 20 percent see Brazil as one of the most powerful countries and 39 percent are optimistic that it will be.
The face-to-face survey was conducted April 10 to 30 throughout Brazil with 1,003 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points.
