By Andrew Warshaw
March 12 – In a break from tradition, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has reportedly decided to refrain from making a formal speech at the World Cup’s opening ceremony for fears of jeering by protesting fans.
Such as been the intensity of public demonstrations in Brazil that last year, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was roundly booed at the opening match of the Confederations Cup – a curtain-raiser for the World Cup – prompting Blatter to intervene.
“Friends of Brazilian football, where is the respect and the fair play, please?” Blatter told the crowd, only to become the target of jeering himself.
In the ensuing days mass protests swept through Brazil’s major cities amid anger over the lack of investment in public services, linked to the cost of staging the World Cup.
“We are going to carry out the opening ceremony in a way that doesn’t involve speeches,” Blatter was quoted saying in an interview with the Germany news agency.
But he added: “I’m convinced that the protests in Brazil will not have the same argument that they had during the Confederation Cup. I am convinced that the situation has calmed.”
“Brazil has 200 million football fans and will receive the world as well. How the local team play will also have an influence but I am convinced it will be a good World Cup, at least when it comes to football.
“We hope that the World Cup will play a part in calming down the social unrest that we experienced during the Confederations Cup”.
Blatter also stressed, in what appeared to be a clear reference to Qatar, that “the human rights situation” will be taken into account when FIFA awards the rights to host World Cups in the future.
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