“It is an important moment for the country” said Dilma Rousseff, stating that “the federal government will not agree with any kind of violence” during this summer’s World Cup soccer tournament. According to the Brazil President, the government has intensified security for the tournament not to be disturbed by violent incidents. “We have improved our security tremendously. The armed forces will participate, we will use the Federal Police and the Federal Highway Police and we have partnerships with all state governors,” she said, stressing the efforts on security in a meeting of the Council for Economic and Social Development.
After last year’s protests during the Confederations Cup the possibility of new protests during the World Cup is widely regarded as rather high. The Federal Police’s coordinator for large events, Felipe Seixas, said last week that it is certain there will be protests, but no one knows how large they will be. Last year, millions of Brazilians went to the streets in June to protest against poor public services, such as health care and education, corruption in politics, and high costs for the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. Many of the protests took place in the vicinity of the stadiums, on game days.
To which extent Brazil authorities are reinforcing security measures during the World Cup is documented in a report on the The Rio Times’ website about how Rio’s Maracanã Stadium will be protected by increased police force. Around 2,372 military police will patrol the iconic Maracanã and another 2,580 policemen will be on standby in case of emergencies on game day, according to the Special Committee of State Security for Major Events a seventy percent increase in police force at the Maracanã Stadium and throughout the city.
“In addition to strengthening the military police, the civil police will service the Center for Attention to Foreign Tourists in stations located in areas close to the games in the presence of 156 police agents specializing in foreign languages. The overall number of police working throughout the state of Rio de Janeiro will reach 4,926 during the World Cup,” reports Michela DellaMonica. “Similar to the reports produced during last year’s Confederations Cup and World Youth Day, the Institute of Public Safety will produce a daily report with police incidents involving event delegations and the public at large. Furthermore, there will be a police outpost at the Special Commission to Support Tourism in Santos Dumont Airport in Glória, as well as the Tom Jobim International Airport on Governor’s Island”.
This article was republished with permission from Karl-Heinz Huba, the editor and publisher of The Sport Intern.