Rio afraid of losing World Cup, Olympics over violence (Feature)

By Diana Renee Nov 26, 2010, 20:55 GMT

Rio de Janeiro - The wave of violence that has shaken Rio de Janeiro this week has prompted major doubts about whether such crime wars could deprive the city of the right to host the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 Olympics?

The sports daily Lance asked readers this question in its website Friday, and the partial count hours later showed that 72 per cent of those who answered think it might indeed cost the city a major part in the largest events of world sport.

The wave of arson attacks allegedly launched by the drug gangs Sunday, in an apparent effort to put pressure on the authorities over the occupation of favelas (slums) previously controlled by organized crime, turned Rio into a battleground.

Some streets were shrouded in smoke, the result of fires that have consumed close to 100 cars, buses and trucks over the past six days.

Across the city there is a tense atmosphere, as residents await the direct clash between more than 1,000 police and military officers and hundreds of drug traffickers who took refuge Thursday in the Complexo do Alemao, a slum area holding more than 65,000 people.

Organizers of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics stressed that they were not afraid of losing either event. They noted that the ongoing clashes are part of process to pacify Rio, which it is planned to be complete by 2014.

'You can be sure that the security legacy of the 2016 Olympic Games will be a reality and will be applauded by all,' Carlos Nuzman, president of the local organizing committee, said Friday.

Nuzman said further that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was not concerned about the issue.

'They are totally sure of the security plan that was presented to them, which was approved unanimously, and they feel comfortable in the face of the work that was done by the state government,' he said.

Ricardo Teixeira, president of the Brazilian Football Confederation and of the organizing committee of the 2014 World Cup, expressed a similar opinion Thursday, when he said in a statement that he had the utmost confidence in Rio's 'power to plan, prevent and fight violence.'

'I can assure the sports community that the host city of Rio de Janeiro will have the atmosphere of normality required to host the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the big party of the Brazil 2014 FIFA World Cup,' Teixeira said.

FIFA media officer Delia Fischer told Brazilian television network Globo that world football's governing body fully trusts Brazilian authorities to develop an efficient security plan ahead of the 2014 World Cup.

In a statement issued in Lausanne, the IOC recalled, in turn, that Rio de Janeiro and Brazil have proved in the past that they can host major events in full safety.

Read more about Crime

Read more about Sport Brazil