0:01

For the last few episodes, you've heard about

0:03

FIFA's historical fondness for brutal

0:06

authoritarians. Specifically,

0:08

it's a Paulium behavior in Chile, South

0:11

Africa, and Argentina in the nineteen

0:13

sixties and seventies, So

0:16

you might ask, has FIFA changed,

0:19

Has it learned any lessons? Of

0:22

course not, It's FIFA,

0:25

and that brings us to today's episode, a

0:28

more modern tale about FIFA's avarice.

0:31

When faced with the choice between prophets

0:34

and human rights ethics and good conduct

0:37

in Brazil in two thousand and fourteen, FIFA

0:40

did what it always does. It

0:42

put profits first, screw

0:45

the consequences.

0:50

I'm Connor Powell. This

0:52

is episode ten, White

0:54

Elephants. If

1:00

you travel inland a thousand miles or so

1:02

on the murky waters of the Amazon River,

1:05

they're likely to catch a glimpse of the three toed

1:07

sloth, an animal so slow

1:10

algae literally grows all over its body.

1:13

You might encounter charismatic and talkative

1:16

Gold and bluem maccause, by the score their

1:18

voices loud as hell, you

1:21

will, without a doubt see the massive pink

1:23

nose river dolphin and incredibly

1:26

social mammal is excited to see

1:28

you as you are to see it. But

1:30

there's another species out

1:33

there, an invasive one. It's

1:35

the great white elephant.

1:38

They've pushed people by the thousands out of

1:40

their homes in trampled the fragile budgets

1:42

of local governments. The

1:46

Amazon, which sits mostly in the soccer

1:48

moutination of Brazil, is the size of

1:50

Spain, France, Italy, Sweden

1:52

and Greece combined, teeming

1:55

with wildlife found no worlds.

1:58

A massive river runs through its rainfalls,

2:01

and it's in Brazil where this white

2:03

elephant infestation grows,

2:06

from the remote city of Manaus to

2:08

the cattle town of Cuieba to

2:10

the nation's capital of Brazilia.

2:13

The white elephants arrived in two thousand

2:15

and fourteen, raised

2:18

and then abandoned by the organization

2:20

known as FIVA. The

2:22

twelve state of the art stadium is built

2:25

or refurbished, are turning

2:27

into wide elephants, proving too costly

2:29

to maintain. The white elephants

2:32

of Brazil are not like the native creatures

2:34

that make the Amazon such a rich envirobrant

2:37

place. No, these

2:39

needy beasts are state of

2:41

the art soccer stadiums made of concrete,

2:43

steel and glass, built

2:46

to satisfy FIVA's punishing

2:48

requirements for host countries to

2:50

live up to World Cup standards. This

2:52

brand new stadium is the jewel in Manoa's

2:54

is crown, designed in the shape of a traditional

2:57

basket, the seats are the colors

2:59

of amazon in fruits. At

3:01

a cost of three hundred million dollars

3:03

alone, the arena of the

3:05

Amazon and the middle of Brazil's

3:08

tropical rainforest was supposed to transform

3:10

Annouse, a sleepy river city

3:13

for the better. Some see the lavish

3:15

temple to football as an investment that will

3:17

attract tourists into the area. No

3:20

expense was spared, and that's

3:22

in part because construction was

3:24

a logistical nightmare. Thousand

3:27

seeds stadium was built hundreds of

3:29

miles away from Brazil's nearest population

3:31

center and besieged by months

3:34

of torrential downpource. At help

3:36

save time, parts of the stadium, like the roof,

3:38

for being built in other locations. Mannouse

3:41

is so remote that it's almost impossible

3:43

to reach by car, which is why officials

3:46

had to have the stadium materials brought

3:48

in by boat, most of it prefabricated

3:51

in Portugal. Undred

3:53

tons of steel had to be barged

3:56

up the Amazon River. Despite

3:58

the astronomical cost, The

4:00

arena of the Amazon hosted just four

4:03

World Cup games before it was basically

4:06

abandoned. Aside from

4:08

a few Brazilian national team matches, a

4:10

handful of birthday parties, and

4:12

the occasional evangelical Christian

4:14

revival, it is sat largely

4:16

empty ever since the two thousand and fourteen

4:18

World Cup. The Manous

4:21

economy just can't support

4:23

a stadium of the size FIFA demanded

4:26

with all of its sky boxes and luxury

4:28

suites. Manawas doesn't have a first

4:30

league football team, and most of the locals

4:32

can't afford tickets to the games. As

4:35

officials and Manus search for new

4:37

uses for the stadium, the

4:39

white Elephant deteriorates under

4:41

the heat and humidity of the Amazon.

4:44

One loose tongue civil servant even

4:46

suggested this could become

4:48

a holding zone for prisoners

4:51

en route to more permanent jails.

4:54

You heard that right, turn a world

4:57

class soccer stadium into a

4:59

prison. And yet

5:01

the stadium in Manouse isn't even

5:03

the worst example of Brazil's wasteful

5:05

spending to meet FIFA's demands.

5:07

Everything about Manega Ainsia Stadium

5:10

is big, a towering presence

5:12

in Brazilia. At a cost of nearly

5:14

eight hundred million dollars, it was

5:16

the most expensive stadium the country, built

5:18

for the two thousand fourteen World Cup. These

5:21

days, there's very little football being played

5:23

at the world's second most expensive

5:25

stadium. In fact, it mostly says

5:27

empty. Like in Mannouse, there's

5:30

no first division soccer team to bring

5:32

in fans to fill the seats. The

5:34

occasional football exhibition matches

5:36

are not enough to sustain the five

5:39

million dollars a year to maintain

5:41

the stadium, and like in Manouse,

5:44

Brazilia's officials are struggling

5:46

to find ways to pay for the upkeep. Officials

5:49

expected this stadium to be full, and

5:51

at least one way it is, but not how

5:53

they had hoped. The parking lot

5:55

has been turned into a giant storage

5:58

area for buses to turn. And white

6:00

elephant refers to the ancient fable

6:02

when a rare and prized white elephant

6:05

is given as a gift by the king, the

6:08

recipient is blessed. After

6:10

all white elephants are sacred. The

6:12

monarch favors you. Then

6:15

you come to understand the curse. You

6:18

can't afford defeat an elephant, and

6:21

you can't give it away. It serves

6:23

no practical purpose, and it's starting to eat

6:25

you out of house and home. FIFA's

6:28

gift of white elephants to Brazil has

6:31

proven to be every bit the curse

6:33

it was in the ancient tales. And

6:36

what does it tell you when someone who

6:38

knows all the downsides of the white elephant

6:40

curse shows up at your door

6:43

with an albino packadern and

6:45

worse tells you it's gonna make you rich.

6:49

Sounds like a grift right well.

6:52

When FIFA arrived in Brazil with designs

6:55

for extravagant stadiums, it promised

6:58

the country they enjoy riches and glory

7:00

if they built them. Of course, FIFA

7:03

does what is best for FIFA always.

7:08

After the tournament, FIFA fat,

7:10

with swollen bank accounts, walked

7:13

away from Brazil, leaving the country

7:15

to clean up its financial mess. If

7:18

you want to understand how FIVA's insatiable

7:21

appetite for profits hurts

7:23

real people in real places, then

7:26

sit back and you'll hear

7:28

the tale of the two thousand and fourteen

7:30

World Cup in Brazil and the Curse

7:33

of the White Elephants, the

7:35

gift that keeps on taking. The

7:43

lines outside of sal Pollo's Arena

7:46

Corinthians were unbearably long

7:48

and disorganized. Now with

7:50

the full kick off, long queues of ticket

7:52

jacks, thousands of excited

7:55

fans, many dressed in the iconic

7:57

black with white striped jerseys of the homeside

8:00

Corinthians, jostle as

8:02

overwhelmed ticket takers struggled with the surge

8:05

of bodies. Eventually, the queues

8:07

got so bad that they were simply let through.

8:10

With a little more than a week to go before

8:12

the opening match of the two thousand and fourteen

8:15

World Cup, FIFA had demanded

8:17

the Brazilian Soccer Confederation stage

8:19

a league match at the new stadium

8:21

to iron out any issues, of

8:24

which there were many.

8:26

For instance, the roof wasn't finished.

8:29

Despite pumping in more than three billion

8:31

dollars yes, I said three

8:34

billion dollars into the building of new stadiums,

8:38

Most of Brazil's new and renovated arenas

8:40

were over budget and way

8:43

behind schedule. We saw

8:45

a stund which last month was still being

8:47

built. It seemed near a completion,

8:50

but not near enough, as was clear once

8:53

week I went into the arena and

8:55

I was stunned. That's

8:57

Andrew Downey, veteran foreign

8:59

correspondent and lifelong soccer fan

9:01

who, as you might have noticed by his accent,

9:04

is from Scotland. Until

9:06

recently he lived in Brazil and covered the

9:08

run up to the two thousand and fourteen World

9:10

Cup. One of the big reasons for Brazil

9:12

hosting the World Cup was the Brazil needed

9:15

more and better infrastructure

9:18

for the World Cup. You need you know, roads and airports

9:20

and trains and busses and all that kind of stuff, and

9:23

it was a chance to modernize. And

9:25

so the opportunity for Brazil

9:28

in this World Cup was to add that

9:30

infrastructure that would benefit the population because

9:32

it was public money that was being used, and

9:35

that was one of the great attractions of this World

9:37

Cup. The government said, we will start building

9:39

this infrastructure. This is our chance to upgrade

9:42

and upgrade quickly. Downey

9:44

was at that dry run match that day

9:46

in June to see firsthand what years

9:49

of FIVA's demands and the

9:51

Brazilian government's promises looked like

9:53

in practice. He navigated

9:56

the long lines and remembers

9:58

the chaos and clutter and then new

10:00

still unfinished stadium.

10:02

There was still lots to do, but one

10:05

part was absolutely finished

10:08

and that stuck out as much as anything. There

10:11

was this enormous, enormous,

10:13

welcoming nedial foy inside

10:15

the stadium and it was

10:18

the most beautifully appointed thing you've ever seen,

10:21

and I was just thinking, why is

10:23

all this so necessary? Like

10:25

the foyer, the luxury suites

10:27

were not only finished, it looked

10:30

like they were plucked straight

10:32

out of the taj Mahal. It

10:35

was what the lords of soccer expected,

10:38

what they demanded of

10:40

so called FIFA quality stadiums.

10:43

I remember walking into the toilets

10:46

and it was like walking into

10:48

the toilets at the Four Seasons

10:51

because everything was marble. You

10:53

know, I'm from Scotland, you know, I

10:55

grew up watching my team Hibs

10:58

in the eighties and nineties and not

11:00

remember when you went to the toilet, the toilet was a wall

11:02

at the back of the stadium, right. I've

11:04

obviously got suggested that you should have

11:06

that in the World Cup venue, but I just thought,

11:09

is it really necessary for the Fruitball

11:11

stadium to have model bathrooms?

11:15

Where these new marble bathrooms and the

11:17

majestic foyer really

11:19

necessary for a month long tournament, Downey

11:23

wasn't the only one asking whether marble bathrooms

11:26

and the majestic foyer were worth

11:28

the cost. For

11:30

months, in the soccer mad nation,

11:33

where the cliche soccer is

11:35

like a religion is used without irony,

11:38

Brazilians have been protesting the reports

11:40

of financial excess and corruption

11:44

to struggle to satisfy FIFA's

11:46

stadium standards, and impressed

11:49

the global soccer community was

11:51

ripping Brazil apart. On

12:03

June two thousand and thirteen,

12:06

as the sun set over Rio de Janeiro,

12:09

the lights of its fame mark and a stadium

12:12

came on, illuminating the

12:14

pitch. Ahead of the Confederation's Cup match

12:16

between Tahitian Spain, hundreds

12:20

of thousands of Brazilians marched

12:22

through the city streets towards the stadium.

12:26

They weren't heading for the game. The

12:28

streets have been filled with protests

12:30

for weeks, some turning violent.

12:34

Brazil is a place with protests.

12:36

Crowds have invaded the streets to voice

12:38

that discontent with the government. The

12:41

protesters came from different backgrounds.

12:43

Rebellious students were joined by middle class

12:45

professionals, left wing activists

12:48

joined by traditional stay at home mothers.

12:51

Together as a group, they

12:54

moved closer. Police

12:59

dressed like characters out of a Marvel's

13:01

Avengers movie, went into battle

13:03

with newly purchased riot helmets and plexiglass

13:06

shields. They opened fire with

13:08

a volley of rubber bullets and tear gas.

13:11

These clashes between police

13:14

and protesters had been on repeat,

13:16

night after night after

13:19

night across Brazil. The

13:21

trigger. The government had

13:23

jacked up bus fares to cover

13:25

the costs of construction for the sleek,

13:28

new modern stadiums FIFA

13:30

required for the two thousand and fourteen World

13:32

Cup. The government has spent more than eleven

13:34

billion dollars getting ready. It had begun

13:37

peacefully, with about one thousand protesters

13:39

moving towards the stadium, demanding

13:41

that the government spent more money on health than

13:44

education rather than sporting events.

13:46

People to say,

13:49

we are fit up, we want changes.

13:51

That's Carlos Vanier, a professor

13:54

of urban and regional planning at the Federal

13:56

University of Rio de Janeira. Veneer,

13:59

was one of the protesters, marching with his

14:01

family. As the protests

14:04

grew, he remembers so too

14:06

did the brutality of the police response.

14:09

The police, he said, we're under pressure

14:11

from the Brazilian government and FIFA

14:14

to protect the stadiums and the soccer facilities.

14:18

Donny was there too, and he confirms

14:20

Veneer's account. You

14:24

would have these big matches and outside Colomba

14:27

from the stadium, you would have tens

14:30

of thousands of people on the streets and the police would come in.

14:32

The police would fire Robert bullets and the police would fire

14:34

tear gas and it was a uh,

14:38

it was a big deal. The more

14:40

the police trying to reign in the protest

14:42

from Porto Allegra to sell Paolo

14:45

to Rio, the more they grew.

14:47

The repression provoked more

14:50

anger and more people

14:52

talk to the streets. These things

14:54

are happening on a daily basis, and

14:57

it was it was it was scary,

14:59

to be honest. Chris

15:02

Gaffney is an American researcher,

15:04

academic, and yes protester.

15:07

He became the English speaking international

15:10

voice of the protest movement. And

15:12

I remember sitting very clearly on put

15:14

of neither put as a dentity of Vatagus and

15:17

being shot at by the police

15:20

with concussion grenades or a bullets,

15:22

and being chased on motorcycles and having to

15:24

run through the streets of Rio to

15:27

try to find a way home. The smell

15:29

of tear gas was just like

15:31

my cologne for the day. The

15:34

contrast between old and new was painful.

15:38

Brazil's inadequate and aging infrastructure,

15:40

underfunded hospitals, and crowded schools,

15:43

they all looked even more tired and

15:46

beaten down in the light of the glistening

15:48

new World Cup stadiums. It

15:51

was so obvious that the basic

15:54

needs of the people were not being attended to, and

15:56

that FIFA quality stadiums

15:59

were the priority, but FIFA quality hospitals

16:01

were not, in that FIFA quality schools

16:03

were not, And so this kind of FIFA

16:06

standard or FIFA quality came to represent

16:09

the bending over backwards

16:11

in fealty to the desires

16:13

of a Swiss non profit who

16:16

managed to make four billion dollars

16:18

in the four year cycle that led it that finished

16:20

in two thousand fourteen. And so

16:22

people saw this and were disgusted

16:25

and took to the streets and were violently repressed

16:27

by the very same mechanisms

16:29

that were designed to secure the World

16:31

Cup. Here again is

16:34

Carlos Venier. The main

16:36

slogan that many movements

16:38

at that moment used is

16:42

we want fair

16:46

World Cup which that way

16:48

to say we once soccer.

16:51

We do not want spending

16:55

billions of dollars on this. We do

16:57

not have corruption of these, we

17:00

want fair World Cup. The

17:14

violence and anger in the streets of Brazil

17:17

couldn't have been further from the optimism

17:19

and joy just six years earlier,

17:21

when FIFA President Sepp Ladder stood on

17:24

a stage in Zurich and in front of the world,

17:26

ripped open his white envelope to announce

17:32

with five World Cup titles and a booming

17:34

economy, Brazil seemed like a natural

17:36

pick. There's no nation more

17:39

passionate about soccer, and the South

17:41

American giant hadn't hosted a World

17:43

Cup since n Best

17:46

known for its endless beaches and yearly

17:49

carnival, these days, Brazil is developing

17:51

a new calling card. It's economy,

17:54

which most of the world's economy is stagnant,

17:56

Brazil's is growing at seven percent. Sal

17:59

Polo's stuck market is shattering

18:01

records since the discovery of new

18:03

offshore oil fields, the Brazilian

18:05

oil industries booming. Brazil's

18:07

president at the time, the left leaning

18:10

Louis and Nazio Lula

18:12

da Silva, often called just Lula

18:14

for short, was one of the most popular

18:17

politicians in the world, and he

18:19

was eager to show that progress

18:21

Brazil had made under his leadership. With

18:24

low inflation, a shrinking inequality

18:26

gap, and a religious deal for soccer,

18:29

Brazil was a sporting nation on the rise.

18:32

Nearly eight percent of Brazilian supported

18:34

hosting the World Cup, with only

18:36

ten firmly against it. On

18:39

Lula's watch, Brazil had also

18:42

been selected to host another international

18:44

sporting event, the two thousand and sixteen

18:46

Olympics. Journalist

18:48

dave's Iron, who wrote Brazil's

18:50

Dance with the Devil, a book all

18:53

about Brazil's preparations for the World

18:55

Cup and the Olympics, says Lula,

18:58

backed by the nodding heads of fee Fund,

19:00

the International Olympic Committee, promised

19:02

that these world events would further transform

19:05

the rapidly developing nation. This

19:08

idea of bringing in the World Cup and

19:10

then subsequently in the Olympics in

19:12

two thousand and sixteen came with it so

19:14

many promises about

19:17

how this was going to be great for Brazil. It was gonna

19:19

be great for Brazil economically, it was

19:21

going to be great for Brazil socio

19:24

politically, and it was going to be great for Brazil

19:26

in terms of its global standing among

19:29

the nations of the world. So it was all

19:31

built on this idea that

19:33

it was going to help while the opposite

19:35

took place. As they say on Wall

19:38

Street, markets go up and

19:40

markets go down. By

19:42

two thousand and thirteen, Brazil's booming

19:44

economy wasn't just going down, it

19:47

was crashing. A

19:49

Latin America's large as economy is showing signs

19:52

of a slowdown. And this is a difficult

19:54

to watch. You see a very promising

19:56

economy slowing down quite radically.

19:59

To make matters worse, Lula

20:01

had been termed out of office. Dilma

20:04

Russaf, Lula's former chief

20:06

of staff, was left to manage Lula's legacy

20:09

and the economic crash. The

20:11

money he remarked to build the new World

20:14

Cup infrastructure began to rapidly disappear,

20:17

Sucked up by construction and corruption,

20:20

Brazil was forced to raise taxes,

20:22

cut basic services, and borrow from

20:24

international markets to pay for the ever increasing

20:27

costs. There was a wide spread

20:29

I can go to that all this money was being spent for

20:31

FIFA and for

20:34

football rather than being spent on ordinary

20:37

Brazilians. It was two

20:39

thousand and thirteen, and RUSSAF tried

20:41

to thread the political pandering needle

20:44

as protesters flooded Brazil's streets.

20:47

She condemned the violence, but

20:51

she said she also supported the protesters

20:53

right to demonstrate and called for dialogue.

20:56

What Dilma Russof didn't do was

20:58

pushed back against FIFA. You know,

21:01

the guys who were insisting not just on new

21:03

stadiums, but particular style

21:05

of new stadiums, with marble atriums

21:08

and luxury suites. Scaling

21:10

back the extravagance was not something

21:12

FIFA would even contemplate. Meanwhile,

21:15

resources for promised improvements through

21:18

roads, subways, and airports

21:20

related infrastructure that would benefit more than

21:22

just soccer were redirected

21:25

to help me FIFA stadium construction

21:27

deadlines. The gap

21:29

between what Brazilians have been promised

21:32

and what they were seeing being built for FIFA only

21:35

widened as the protests

21:37

grew. FIFA did what

21:40

it normally does stayed quiet,

21:43

But behind the scenes, FIFA did not adjust

21:46

or reevaluate their demands. What

21:48

FIFA wanted FIFA

21:51

was going to get. There are all sorts

21:53

of like a death by a thousand cuts sent

21:56

the economy into a downward spiral.

21:59

And yet FIFA doesn't

22:01

care if your economy is in bad

22:03

shape. They want their FIFA quality

22:05

stadiums. Dave's Iron says

22:08

FIFA's indifference and greed had

22:10

real world consequences. They

22:13

felt like they needed to push ahead, which

22:15

led to cost cutting, which led

22:17

to corruption, which led to a

22:19

lot of dissatisfaction among the people

22:22

who felt like their needs were being ignored

22:24

while stadiums were being built. The

22:32

first punches were thrown seconds

22:34

after the final whistle blew. The

22:37

full row of green stadium

22:39

seats came curling through the air

22:41

and onto the pitch. Countless

22:44

other pieces of trash and debris, some

22:47

one fire came raining down

22:49

from every part of the stadium.

22:52

It was two thousand and nine. Hundreds

22:54

of supporters of the Brazilian side Quarter

22:57

Chiba storm their home pitch.

23:00

Hackey clothed police officers swung their

23:02

batons wildly and

23:04

fired rubber bullets trying to be back

23:06

the enraged soccer hooligans. The

23:09

chaos erupted after core Achieva's

23:11

shocking relegation to Brazil's

23:14

domestic second division, meaning

23:16

for non soccer fanatics, they

23:18

had the worst record and so they got booted down

23:20

to a lower division, their fans

23:22

went ballistic. It

23:25

was the very type of soccer violence

23:28

Brazilian lawmakers had hoped to end

23:30

when they banned the sale of alcohol and stadiums

23:33

six years earlier. In two

23:35

thousand three, the Brazilian government banned

23:38

alcohol from stadiums because of

23:40

the enormously high death rate

23:42

amongst fans. Those

23:44

stamping out all of the violence completely

23:47

was proving to be difficult. That ban

23:49

on alcohol had saved lives and helped

23:51

reduced violence, But as the two

23:54

thousand and fourteen tournament near Brazil's

23:57

ban on alcohol and stadiums became a

23:59

flashpoint of intention for World

24:01

Cup organizers, Jerome Vodka,

24:03

the General Secretary of football's world governing

24:05

body, has urged the Brazilian government

24:08

to approve a law which allows the sale

24:10

of beer at World Cup venues.

24:13

For more than twenty five years, the red

24:15

Budweiser logo had adorned nearly

24:17

every corner of FIFA's

24:19

World Cup advertising. The King

24:22

of Beers is one in a massive

24:24

cavalcade of advertisers whose commercials

24:27

bombard TV sets during World Cup

24:29

matches. Brazil's

24:31

ban on alcohol and stadiums threatened

24:33

FIFA's money making machine, and

24:37

the only thing worse than the loss and advertising

24:39

for FIFA would be the loss of

24:41

lucrative in game beer sales, and

24:44

FIFA wasn't about to let that happen. Just

24:47

listen to FIFA's General secretary

24:49

Jerome Valc, I'm sorry

24:51

to say, and maybe I look a bit arrogance, but

24:53

that's something will not negotiate to. I mean

24:55

there will be and the MusB a spot of

24:57

the of the law, the fact that

25:00

we have the right to sell

25:02

beer. Brazil had enacted

25:04

this band in two thousand and three, faced

25:07

with a staggering level of soccer violence

25:10

and preventable deaths, It's

25:12

hard to argue this law wasn't completely

25:14

reasonable. And yet

25:16

FIVA, a nonprofit who stayed

25:18

admission is to grow and protect the game of soccer,

25:22

not to earn money, demanded

25:24

Brazil removed the band, which,

25:27

of course Brazil ended up doing. Beer

25:29

would be sold at World Cup games,

25:32

but at least if FIFA was going

25:34

to make money off of beer sales, Brazil could

25:36

count on tax revenue and profit sharing

25:38

is part of its hosting duties right well,

25:41

and they're going to make money as well

25:43

as all money this FIFA

25:45

makes the money. This is where the controversy is.

25:47

The country usually doesn't make money.

25:50

FIFA, the organization of the World Cup, is

25:52

who makes the money. Despite

25:54

spending north of three billion

25:57

dollars on FIFA required stadiums,

26:00

ending public safety laws aimed at preventing

26:02

alcohol related violence, Brazil

26:05

wasn't guaranteed a penny for hosting the World

26:07

Cup tournament. That is, FIFA and its FIFA

26:10

subsidiaries that are fully exempt

26:12

from any text whatsoever levied

26:14

at whatever level, state level, municipality

26:17

level, all sorts of texas, consumption,

26:19

texas income, texas, you name

26:22

it, its all exempt. Remember,

26:25

the rules of the game are rigged by FIVA for

26:27

FIFA. So not only is FIFA

26:29

blessed with a tax exemption as

26:31

part of its hosting requirements, so

26:34

are all FIFA's corporate sponsors. In

26:37

two thousand and fourteen, Brazil spent

26:39

fifteen billion dollars to host

26:42

the World Cup. FIVA earned

26:44

nearly five billion dollars from World Cup

26:46

advertising deals and sponsorship agreements.

26:49

Brazil's cut zero

26:53

the final insult FIFA

26:55

security demands. FIVA,

26:57

of course, understood the hazards of combining

26:59

alcohol and a fan base with a history

27:01

of soccer violence. Drunken

27:03

hooliganism has been an issue in

27:05

world soccer for decades, but

27:08

add to the mix a population worried

27:11

about a crashing economy and

27:13

angry at the bejeweled stadium springing

27:15

up amidst a crumbling infrastructure,

27:18

and the two thousand and fourteen World Cup was

27:21

beginning to look like a powder keg ready

27:23

to explode.

27:32

As soccer fans lined up to inner Rio's

27:35

Maracana Stadium July two

27:37

thousand and fourteen for the final

27:40

game, the images were dazzling.

27:43

Argentinian fans wore the classic

27:45

light blue and white striped jerseys.

27:48

Germany's fans don white and red

27:50

Adiita's tops with black trim

27:53

mixed in, where the bright, almost electric

27:56

yellow kits of host country Brazil standing

27:59

in stark contrast all the

28:01

bright colors where the drab al

28:03

of green military uniforms

28:06

of the Brazilian security forces. Come

28:08

Sunday, Rio de Janeiro may look like an

28:10

occupied city. Troops,

28:13

military police, firefighters and National

28:16

guardsmen are being deployed, largest

28:18

ever in the city's history. The

28:20

site of troops standing along roads and

28:23

at intersections, and heavily clad riot

28:25

gear became the persistent

28:27

image of the tournament, and everything

28:29

was only amped for the final match,

28:32

which was played under a draconian

28:34

security blanket. Israeli

28:36

drones flew above the stadium,

28:38

American provided bomb busting robots

28:41

patrolled outside, while German

28:43

anti aircraft tanks kept watch over

28:45

the skies. No one can accuse

28:48

Brazil of scrimping on security for

28:50

soccer's biggest event. The country

28:52

total nearly one billion dollars in

28:54

security costs, five times

28:56

what South Africa spent during the two thousand

28:58

ten Cups. You've surely

29:01

noticed that since the terror attacks

29:03

of two thousand and one, security

29:05

at large gatherings, including public sporting

29:08

events, has become increasingly

29:10

militarized. But Brazil

29:13

and FIFA security set up in two thousand

29:15

and fourteen, while state of

29:17

the art was something all

29:19

together different and unheard

29:22

of in world sport, Brazilian

29:24

authorities are leaving nothing to chance. One

29:26

hundred and seventy thousand security

29:29

forces will be mobilized throughout the country.

29:31

There are now more security forces on the ground

29:33

in Brazil than the United States deployed

29:35

at the height of the Iraq War. Brazil,

29:38

a country with no international

29:40

enemies or history of domestic terror

29:43

had created a full on World

29:45

Cup army, an army whose

29:48

weapons were trained not on some foreign

29:51

enemy, but on the very people

29:53

the World Cup was supposed to benefit. This

29:57

massive security force was never

29:59

about stop in a terror attack or

30:01

even solving Brazil's stunning lee high

30:03

murder rate. It was required

30:06

by FIFA to pacify Brazil's

30:08

own population, which had

30:10

grown increasingly hostile to the soccer

30:12

organization and the Brazilian government.

30:16

By the time the first game kicked off in

30:18

two thousand and fourteen, Brazilian

30:20

public opinion had swung wildly

30:22

against the World Cup, where

30:25

once it was eight in favor

30:27

when step Ladder announced the winning bid. More

30:30

than sixty Brazilians believe

30:32

hosting the World Cup is bad. When

30:35

you have Brazilians protesting soccer, you

30:37

know something went very wrong. As

30:39

journalists Dave's Iron points out, if

30:42

you need a US military sized army

30:44

to keep security during a soccer tournament

30:47

in a nation of soccer fans, then yes,

30:50

something has gone seriously wrong.

30:53

It was slowly instituted in preparation

30:55

for the World Cup like terrific surveillance,

30:58

a tremendous surveillance and

31:01

as well as you know things like you know,

31:03

water cannons and concussion

31:05

grenades like it's it's not just about

31:07

the weaponry, it's about a plan in

31:09

a mode of attack against your own population.

31:13

It wasn't just the massive spending

31:15

on FIFA stadiums that angered the Brazilian

31:17

public, though that was a big part of

31:19

it. And it wasn't just the appearance of

31:21

troops. It's what the military

31:24

actually did. In

31:26

the lead up to the World Cup. Brazil's

31:28

newly created heavy handed security

31:31

force was trained by who's who

31:33

of international security conglomerates.

31:36

They included Academy, which you'll

31:38

know by its former name Blackwater,

31:41

the infamous private security company

31:43

used during the Iraq War, and

31:45

the Israeli firm Raphael Advanced

31:47

Defense Systems, which has long

31:50

provided the backbone for the Israeli blockade

31:52

around Gaza and its military

31:55

occupation of the Palestinian West Bank. These

31:57

firms didn't just provide secure

32:00

already, they paved the way

32:02

for the forced displacement of tens

32:04

of thousands of Brazilians

32:06

and entire neighborhoods

32:08

for the World Cup. One

32:10

such slam Rio's huge Mari Favela

32:13

complex was recently pacified

32:15

after an operation involving hundreds of

32:17

men, tanks and helicopters,

32:20

and by pacified they

32:22

mean removed from

32:24

the safety of its bunker in Zurich. FIVA's

32:27

leadership pushed for all of this

32:29

additional security. It

32:31

was unlike any other sporting event.

32:33

Ever, FIFA brings

32:35

with it debt, displacement and the militarization

32:38

of public space. It takes

32:40

two to tango, and what FIFA

32:43

looks for is willing nations.

32:45

They're willing to, you know, march

32:47

to the beat of FIFA's drum.

32:50

In Brazil, FIFA found a willing partner.

32:53

That partnership, however, enriched

32:56

FIFA and ripped apart Brazil.

32:59

Here, Chris Caffey, what do

33:01

we have at the end is you know, sixt

33:04

or four games of football and a country

33:06

that is now in economic samples

33:14

Today, the high speed train that connects

33:16

Salpallo's largest airport to

33:18

its city center is rarely late.

33:21

The modern metro is a much needed

33:24

addition, but the project itself

33:26

was anything but on time. It

33:29

first opened in April of two thousand and eighteen.

33:32

It was originally one of the many

33:34

infrastructure projects promised as part

33:36

of Brazil's World Cup bid. It

33:39

was supposed to be ready when the tournament kicked

33:41

off in two thousand and fourteen, but the

33:43

high speed rail line was ditched

33:45

as money was diverted to key World

33:48

Cup infrastructure projects like stadiums,

33:51

especially those empty, crumbling

33:53

white elephant stadiums that now in fast

33:55

places like Manaus in Cuioba.

33:58

The fact that the train line to the airport was

34:00

completed even four years later

34:03

makes it unique. Dozens

34:06

of other promised infrastructure projects

34:08

from Brazil's original World Cup plan, from

34:11

roads the train lines have

34:13

yet to be built and probably

34:16

never will be. When

34:18

Brazil was awarded the World Cup by FIFA

34:21

back in two thousand and seven, the

34:24

country had dreams of glory,

34:27

confident it would win a record

34:29

sixth championship and show

34:31

the world the progress Brazil had achieved.

34:35

It was a narrative FIFA was all

34:37

too willing to inflate and encourage.

34:40

FIFA's demands for its World Cup,

34:42

and let's be very clear, every

34:44

tournament is FIVA's and not the

34:46

host nations brought out the worst

34:49

in Brazil after months

34:51

of civil unrest, a ton of

34:53

unfinished public works projects,

34:56

a new draconian security system,

34:58

a fifteen billion dollar price tag

35:01

and Brazil's seven to one thrashing

35:03

at the hands of Germany and the World Cup semifinal.

35:06

The two thousand and fourteen World Cup is anything

35:09

but glorious and

35:13

what are the long term consequences? Today?

35:16

Brazil has been ravaged by the COVID

35:18

nineteen virus, Its economy

35:20

has crashed and stagnated, and

35:23

its right wing government led by Yair

35:26

Bulson Nario, is sending signals it

35:28

will use Brazil's new robust

35:31

security apparatus built under

35:33

the direction of FIFA, to stay

35:35

in power. No matter what, You've

35:43

heard a lot about the bad and world soccer

35:45

under FIFA, decades of corruption

35:48

and generations of abuse. It

35:51

might make you wonder if there's any reason

35:53

to be hopeful. The answer is

35:55

yes, absolutely yes, and

35:58

it starts with a team of outsiders

36:00

who pushed to be treated as equals. Could

36:03

the answer to FIFA's corruption be women's

36:06

soccer? That's coming up

36:08

next on The Lords of Soccer. The

36:16

Lords of Soccer, How FIFA Stole

36:19

the Beautiful Game is an Inside Voices

36:21

media production in conjunction with I Heart

36:24

Radio. The series was written

36:26

and executive produced by Gary Scott

36:28

and me Connor Powell special

36:31

thanks to Giselli Rossi for helping

36:33

me with the trickiest of the Brazilian names.

36:35

If I screwed up, It's on me, not her

36:38

Logan Heftell and Katie mcmurrn

36:40

provided the sound design with assistance

36:42

from j. C. Swaddick and Jake Blue

36:45

Note. Alec Cowen is our associate

36:47

producer and Jeffrey Katz was our

36:49

story editor. Our fact checker is

36:51

Alexa O'Brien and thanks

36:53

to Miles Gray, who produced the series

36:56

for I Heart Radio. If you have any comments

36:58

or questions, please reach out. You

37:00

can find us on Twitter. I'm at

37:02

Connor M. Powell and Gary

37:05

is at Gary Robert Scott and

37:08

if you have any stories about FIFA, let

37:10

us know. If you like what you hear, please

37:13

give us a shout out at the hashtag Lords

37:16

of Soccer