Brazil Protests: Clashes Over World Cup Costs

Tens of thousands voice their anger over high taxes and the huge cost of the World Cup in the biggest demonstrations in 20 years.

8:05am UK, Tuesday 18 June 2013

Demonstrators march during one of the many protests around Brazil's major cities in Belem

Video: Demonstrators march during one of the many protests across Brazil

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Riot police arrive at the stadium in Brasilia, where Japan were playing Brazil in a match the home side won 3-0.

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Officers were sent in to disperse 1,000 protesters and stop them disrupting the match.

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Protesters say the World Cup is costing too much, and there is also anger over high ticket prices.

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Mounted police were also drafted in.

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Numerous people have been arrested during the clashes.

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A protester faces off with two mounted officers.

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Demonstrators say millions are being spent on new stadiums for the tournament at a time when investment is needed in hospitals and the education system.

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FIFA has said it has "full confidence" Brazil can control the streets.

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Gallery: World Cup 2014 Stadium Protests

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Major protests have been held in cities across Brazil over rising bus fares and the cost of staging the 2014 football World Cup - with Brazilian media putting the number of demonstrators as high as 230,000.

An estimated 50,000 people took to the streets of Sao Paolo, while reports said there were 100,000 on the streets near Rio de Janeiro's Legislative Assembly.

There were clashes outside the building as police used tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets to disperse small groups of masked youths.

In the southern city of Porto Alegre, a group of protesters set a bus on fire and threw rocks at empty commuter trains amid calls for transparency and fighting corruption.

Students protest in Brasilia — Students protest outside the National Congress building in Brasilia

Elsewhere, there were peaceful protests through the capital Brasilia where more than 200 youths briefly occupied the roof of the National Congress and some 5,000 later formed a human chain around the building.

Protests also were reported in Curitiba, Belem, Salvador and Belo Horizonte.

"This is a communal cry saying, 'We're not satisfied'," said Maria Claudia Cardoso, in Sao Paolo.

A protest in Rio de Janeiro — A fire near Rio's state legislative assembly

"We're massacred by the government's taxes, yet when we leave home in the morning to go to work, we don't know if we'll make it home alive because of the violence.

"We don't have good schools for our kids. Our hospitals are in awful shape. Corruption is rife. These protests will make history and wake our politicians up to the fact that we're not taking it anymore."

Sandra Amalfe added: "We need better education, hospitals and security - not billions spent on the World Cup."

A demonstrator holds a banner during one of the many protests around Brazil's major cities in Sao Paulo — A protester against Brazil's hosting of the World Cup

The protests follow the opening games of the Confederations Cup over the weekend, just one month before a papal visit, a year before the World Cup and three years ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

President Dilma Rousseff acknowledged the protests in a brief statement saying: "Peaceful demonstrations are legitimate and part of democracy. It is natural for young people to demonstrate."

She faces re-election next year and her popularity rating recently dipped for the first time in her presidency.

The unrest, which began last week after the announcement of increased bus fares, has rapidly spread with demonstrators focusing their anger not just on the transport fares but also on the £9.5bn the government is allocating for the Confederations Cup and the World Cup.