FIFA Confederations Cup 2013: Brazilian media slam police response to protests

A protestor is seen near riot police outside of Maracana stadium during the FIFA 2013 Confederation Cup football match between Mexico and Italy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 16, 2013. (AFP/Getty Images)

Brazilian media lashed out on Sunday at what they saw as an excessive police response to protesters ahead of Saturday’s Confederations Cup opener between Brazil and Japan, which the hosts won 3-0.

The run-up was marred by protests in the capital by several thousand people angry at hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on a new stadium in the city.

They were also protesting at the displacement of tens of thousands of residents for infrastructure improvements as Brazil also races to get itself ready for the 2014 World Cup, which will be spread across 12 venues as opposed to six for the Confederations Cup.

Other unrelated protests had seen hundreds of arrests in Rio and Sao Paulo in midweek amid anger at hikes in transport fares while those disturbances spread Saturday to the city of Belo Horizonte.

“Fiesta inside (the stadium) … war outside,” was how Jornal de Brasilia daily headlined its coverage in juxtaposing that of the match with that of the protests, during which 29 arrests were reported.

Although local authorities praised the “excellent” responses of the forces of law and order, others were less impressed.

Jornal de Brasilia reporter Marcus Eduardo Pereira said he had been with some of the protesters “who presented no danger” to anyone in his view when he alleged a policeman slapped a young woman around the face after a group of marchers yelled “dictatorship” at what they deemed police heavy-handedness.

“The same policeman sprayed me in the face with pepper spray, directly in my eyes,” Pereira wrote, while his paper published a picture of the incident.

It was, the paper concluded, “A Saturday of contrasts in Brasilia.”

Inside the stadium, many fans booed both Brazil President Dilma Rousseff and FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who felt moved to make an unscripted appeal to supporters to show an attitude of fair play.