by Marina Zanzarini in Uncategorized Tags: Athletes, Brazil, Brazilians, Budget, Information, News, Olympics, Rio, Soccer, World Cup

You probably heard about the climate changes going on in the world nowadays right? If you thought the raising temperature was caused by global warming, be prepared to be blown away! I will tell you here what the real reason is: THE BRAZILIANS ARE CAUSING IT!

The energy level in Brazil now is about to blow the atmosphere out of the planet. But all this enthusiasm is caused by what Brazilians love the most: showing the world all the beautiful things that make this country one of the top tourist destinations in the world. In the near future, the country will be finally hosting the Soccer World Cup in 2014, a break of 52 years since the last time Brazil hosted the game, and the Olympic Games in 2016, first time being hosted by a South American country. And people are proud of that.

But everything comes with a cost. The London Olympic Games ended up costing much more than initially designed, which might quickly become the reality in Brazil, since the organizations in charge cannot always be trusted. Every Brazilian knows that some people, somewhere in Brazil will have a pocketful of money by the time all venues are built, and there is not much that the average Joe can do to help but require more transparency with the money being invested. As of today, there is no stipulated budget for the Rio Olympics.

Brazil is a land of social inequality, where poor people are very poor and wealthy people are very rich. But most of the athletes we have in our country today come from simple families. They enter athletics as a way to avoid the reality they are forced to see everyday. But it also means that most of our athletes and training centers are supported by generous people and some federal agencies, and it is not even nearly enough to cover all the costs. That is why Brazilians are so good in soccer: it is a cheap sport; 22 people can play at the same time with one ball (or anything that rolls) and no special gear (barefoot is as good as anything and teams are normally defined as the “with shirts” against the “without shirts”) and two pairs of flip-flops to limit the goal area. Being the most accessible sport for the community also makes it the most popular of them all.

After all, the games are supposed to be a happy time in the lives of those competing, not a time to complain about the social problems of the country. And I am sure that all athletes who are going to compete in Rio, specially the Brazilians, are ready to give 100% of their potential to win it. After all, we are the hosts, and hosts are supposed to behave well, right?