World Cup: The Other Side You Haven’t Heard
Every four years 31 soccer teams from rival countries come together to compete in the World Cup. This year the games are taking place across 12 different cities in Brazil in either new or renovated stadiums. While the games bring excitement to viewers throughout the world, a different emotion lives in many Brazilian natives. The cost of living has gone up in the cities hosting the games, construction has increased and traffic has worsened. In an article written by Paula Daibert on May 26 of this year, the “Popular Committee for the World Cup and Olympics, a group opposed to how the games’ preparations have been handles, 250,000 people across Brazil have been forcefully removed from their houses or are being threatened with eviction.”
To read more click here. Below, one of our interns, Bri, gives her insight into the situation.
Though the World Cup brings communities together to cheer on their country, Brazil communities should not have to be poorly affected due to the Government overruling them. The World Cup represents positivity and hope, but people who are being forced to leave their homes think otherwise. The World Cup is hiding the reality of families that are facing struggles due to their home location in Brazil. As a Public Relations Firm, the main key to make our clients happy is being honest. As the World Cup is bringing money to Brazil, it is always important to keep everyone happy and to look at the story, situation, or event in every angle.
If this were in any other circumstance, such as families being removed from their homes for no specific reason, it would be known everywhere. Since this is the World Cup, it is being covered by the media since everyone wants to witness their country win.
As a Public Relations Specialist, if I was dealing with this situation through FIFA’s perspective, I feel as though it would be extremely important to face the situation immediately, rather than waiting for the World Cup to be over. First, I would communicate with the families that are affected by the World Cup and apologize for adding stress to them and leaving them in unfortunate circumstances. Secondly, I would create an event to help raise money to help them for the valuables they lost. Finally, I would work on helping them in the future by discussing with the government other living situations if the were to happen again.
Do you agree? Or would you do something different? Let us know your input!