by Austin Coats, sports editor

Brazil has won soccer’s biggest tournament, the World Cup, five times–that’s more championships than any other country. Naturally, Brazil ought to cherish the opportunity to host the World Cup, right? For many Brazilians, though, that is not the case. Many organized protests against the World Cup have taken place, mostly expressing disagreement with Brazil’s having spent the most any host has ever spent on the tournament (an estimated $14 billion). Instead of investing in Brazil’s infrastructure, which is how these protesters would prefer that large sum be spent, a portion of this money has gone to renovating and building a total of twelve stadiums, though one stadium is seemingly not quite prepared, will only host four matches and have no tenant when the World Cup ends. Anti-World Cup attitudes are, then, understandable. Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff tried to provide Brazilians with a plausible excuse, telling the public that “the federal money spent on the stadiums is in the form of financing that will be duly repaid by the companies and governments that are exploiting these stadiums.” However, the protests continue, and some Brazilians are so angry that these protests have turned into violent affairs. As a soccer fan readily awaiting the World Cup, I have mixed emotions. I definitely feel for those who would rather have better schools and more hospitals, especially if those are needed and were promised, but to move the world’s most popular sporting event is a huge request. While the president’s excuse may lack legitimacy, moving the World Cup would mean a different country would have to prepare to host this large tournament in a condensed amount of time, and Brazil as a whole would face a huge embarrassment. As the World Cup kicked off yesterday, two important factors helped ease my questionable feelings towards the World Cup. First came a violent protest before the first match of the tournament, in which innocent people were injured. This protest–not the first violent demonstration–was a tipping point in my mind. I feel that I cannot respect a protest when it provokes a battle in a public place. Shortly afterwards, as the match was about to begin, I saw much support from other Brazilians for their national team–albeit through a somewhat filtered lens. Before the opening match yesterday, the whole of the attendance of the Arena Corinthians stood for the Brazilian national anthem. The music to the anthem stopped playing after about a minute, as usual, leaving the Brazilians nothing to put their words to. However, the unison singing of the crowd and players continued anyways and turned into a musical chant that had the power to transfer through a television screen. I realized then that, though Brazil should address its social problems, if Brazilians can support their team no matter what, I can feel comfortable as an onlooker in supporting the tournament.