Brazilian authorities have moved to temper expected demonstrations ahead of this year’s World Cup by announcing the deployment of a 10,000-strong riot team to be present during the tournament.
Col. Alexandre Augusto Aragon, head of the country’s National Security Force, spoke of the plans during an interview with Sports Illustrated, saying: “we don’t wait for things to happen. The violence of recent protests is what scared us.”
Brazil has been beset by mass public unrest in the past year, with strong calls for an end to higher bus fares and corruption, as well as a cry to improve general public services.
Anger from civillians has often turned violent, and at a rapid rate. During last summer’s Confederations Cup Final between Brazil and Spain, protesters allegedly got as close as 200m away from the stadium before police intervened with tear gas.
With the Olympic games also coming to the country in the near future, it is imperative that the National Security Force doesn’t allow anything to detract from the World Cup- the one thing that will hopefully unite the nation.
The announcement of the World Cup riot team should not be seen as an act of belligerence against the protesters; rather a necessary procedure to ensure that one of the global sporting traditions can continue in peace.
