By William Jones, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to a survey conducted by IBOPE (Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics), as little as 51 percent of the Brazilians who took part in in the national study are in agreement with the country hosting the World Cup, while 42 percent are opposed.
As the competition edges ever closer tension remain high with looming strikes and calls for education and welfare reform culminating in widespread discontent, protest and often violence.
The IBOPE report shows a number of differing opinions in regards to the hosting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in research compiled from 2,002 voters aged sixteen or more, in 140 municipalities across Brazil between May 15th to 19th.
The survey released this week it also showed that the public’s expectations was split nearly three ways in term of how successful they think the tournament will be. Thirty-six percent believed that the World Cup is likely to be successful, another 28 percent believed there will be an average chance of success, while 31 percent thought that the World Cup which is due to start in a matter of days is doomed for failure.
According to an O Globo report IBOPE do however believe that positive sentiments seem to outweigh the negative ones. When the audience was asked if they will be supporting the Brazil national team in the competition the response was mainly a good. Fifty-nine percent revealed that they will be getting behind Seleção while 22 percent predict that things will go wrong for Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men on the pitch.
Read more (in Portuguese).
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