Strike paralyses World Cup host city
FOR the third day running, subway workers in São Paulo yesterday brought chaos to the Brazilian city due to host the World Cup opener later this week.
As the police fired tear gas and beat back striking workers with batons on Friday, Fifa vice-president Jim Boyce told the Estado de São Paulo newspaper that the protests could cause difficulties for those trying to attend the opening match on Thursday.
“The biggest concern is indeed what will happen with the protests. Fans must have assurances they can get to the stadium,” said Boyce.
“The aim of the demonstrations cannot be Fifa. It is not responsible for the problems.”
The protesting workers have picketed and blocked subways in the indefinite strike, which has raised fears of unrest in the megacity during the global showpiece tournament.
Tear gas was used to break up a demonstration blocking access to at least one metro station, and a third of the city’s subway stops remained closed on Friday. More than 200km of traffic choked city streets and several Fifa officials were delayed as they travelled to a conference ahead of the World Cup.
World Cup organisers have urged fans to use public transport to stadiums on game days in 12 host cities, but just a fraction of the transport projects promised for the tournament have been delivered.
Frustration with those broken promises and the ballooning cost of new stadiums con- tributed to widespread protests that drew more than a million people to the streets during a warm-up tournament last year.
The government is braced for another wave of demonstrations, but protests so far this year have lacked the energy and scale of 2013. The biggest have been staged by homeless groups and striking workers using the backdrop of the World Cup to press their causes. —