Brazil's Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, The Olympics, and the Struggle for Democracy

by Dave Zirin

The people of Brazil celebrated when it was announced that they were hosting the twentieth World Cup (June 12–July 13, 2014), the world's most-viewed sporting tournament, and the thirty-first Summer Olympics (August 5–21, 2016).

Now they are protesting in numbers the country hasn't seen in decades, with Brazilians taking to the streets to try to reclaim the sports they love but see being corrupted by powerful corporate interests, profiteering, and greed. In this compelling new book, relying on original reporting from the most dangerous corners of Rio to the halls of power in Washington, DC, Dave Zirin examines how sports and politics are colliding in remarkable fashion in Brazil, opening up an international conversation on the culture, economics, and politics of sports.

DAVE ZIRIN is the sports editor for the Nation and the author of Game How Politics Has Turned the Sports World Upside Down. Named one of UTNE Reader’s “Fifty Visionaries Who Are Changing Our World,” Zirin is a frequent guest on MSNBC, ESPN, and Democracy Now! He also hosts the weekly Sirius XM show Edge of Sports Radio and has been called "the best sportswriter in the United States," by Robert Lipsyte. He lives near Washington, DC.

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, Politics, History, Brazil, Soccer, Journalism

315 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Named of the UTNE Reader’s “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Our World”, Dave Zirin writes about the politics of sports for the Nation Magazine. He is their first sports writer in 150 years of existence. Zirin is also the host of Sirius XM Radio’s popular weekly show, Edge of Sports Radio. He has been called “the best sportswriter in the United States,” by Robert Lipsyte. Dave Zirin is, in addition, a columnist for SLAM Magazine and the Progressive.
[from http://www.edgeofsports.com/bio.html]

Reviews

[Ali Arabzadeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب را براي ترجمه خواندم. اميدوارم ترجمه اش هم خوانده شود و مفيد باشد.
كتاب نتيجه ي سفر يك روزنامه نگار تحقيقي ورزشي به برزيل قبل از ميزباني جام جهاني گذشته است. زمينه ي اصلي فعاليت نويسنده پشت پرده هاي سياسي - اجتماعي ورزش است و چند كتاب ديگر هم در همين زمينه دارد.
تم اصلي اين كتاب نسبت نئوليبراليسم و ورزش است. روايتي از ورزش در قرن بيست و يكم كه حالا تبديل شده است به ابزار توجيه و تسهيل سياست هاي نئوليبراليستي.
چفت و بست هاي روايي و منطقي متن آنقدر كه ميشود از قلم يك روزنامه نگار توقع داشت، خوب و راضي كننده است اگرچه كتاب را نبايد به عنوان يك متن پژوهشي با استانداردهاي آكادميك خواند. مثلا شما در يك متن آكادميك براي اثبات مدعي تان نميتوانيد به نقل قول هاي يك پيرزن استناد كنيد كه وسط راهتان به يك ورزشگاه به او برخورده ايد.
ما خيلي به اينجور متن ها عادت نداريم ولي بعيد ميدانم در ارتباط برقرار كردن با متن مشكلي داشته باشيد.
اين كتاب احتمالا دنباله اي هم خواهد داشت كه بعد از المپيك يعني بعد از سفر همين نويسنده به ريو منتشر خواهد شد.
ترجمه كه منتشر شد اطلاعات آن نسخه را هم اضافه خواهم كرد.

[حسام آبنوس · Rating 4 out of 5]

من خودم رو مخاطب موضوعات اقتصادی نمی‌دونستم تا اینکه با این کتاب آشنا شدم
اولش به این تصور که درباره فوتبال است سراغش رفتم ولی به مرور متوجه شدم زیرپوست فوتبال است
فوق‌العاده بود
یک ترجمه خوب با زبان خوب‌تر شما را ترغیب می‌کند تا زیر پوصت فوتبال را ببینید

[fire_on_the_mountain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading, period. You can't ignore the linkages between sports and politics anymore. Anyone telling you they should be kept apart has their own agenda, as they cannot be separated. And as a consumer of some of these global mega-events, from the Olympics to the World Cup, down to the way your local team is run or funded, you need to be up on just what is at stake. In Rio de Janeiro, and Brazil as a whole, a wholesale sanitizing urban renewal project is at play, eliminating entire classes of people from their historic homes in favor of a neoliberal theme park desired by European and Brazilian elite. The actors stay the same, the play never changes, so read this fast so you can see it while it happens. And God willing, the people of Brazil will have some luck in turning the tide before it is too late.
More to the point of this book, it's impressively researched, fast-paced, and eminently approachable. You don't get bogged down in minutiae. What I would have liked a little more is some more pages given to the on-the-ground stories in Brazil, as they really hope make it the story of people and not statistics. That said, in parts Zirin's writing reaches a damn near poetic level, a crystal-clear shout for justice, and that is something we always need more of.

[Mahdi · Rating 5 out of 5]

جزو بهترین کتاب‌هایی که در تمام عمرم خوانده ام

روایتی جذاب و نفسگیر از سیاست جهانی؛ اشتباه نکنید، دقیقا این کتاب با رویکرد ورزشی ولی تحلیلی سیاسی نوشته شده و همین آن را تبدیل به یک اثر ماندگار کرده است. روایتی از شوک درمانی ایالات متحده علیه عواقب منفی گسترش تفکر نئولیبرالیستی و فریب مردم با سرگرمی هایی نظیر جام جهانی و المپیک

نویسنده کاملا بر مساله مسلط است؛ می داند که چه میخواهد بنویسد و تحقیق و پژوهش کامل هم داشته است. ادبیات کتاب کاملا نرم و روان و شیرین است و خواننده حتی برای یک لحظه هم حس خستگی و کلافگی از نثر یا احیانا ارائه اطلاعات اضافی ندارد

ترجمه کتاب فوق العده س؛ تا جایی که تمام عبارات و واژه های نامفهوم و کمتر شنیده شده، به صورت دقیق و جالبی پانویس شده اند. نثر روان کتاب حفظ شده و تقریبا جایی در کتاب وجود ندارد که برای خواننده عادی نامفهوم باشد

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for soccer (football) fans and anyone concerned with the corporatization of sports on all levels. I am familiar with last summer's widespread demonstrations in Brazil, that have continued into this year. Friends in the city where I lived in 1999, Porto Alegre, continue to be impacted by demonstrations in the city. I didn't know these were the first widespread demonstrations in Brazil since the 1980's. Zirin also reviews the impact of recent Olympic and World Cup games on the countries that hosted them, even making the case that the collapse of Greece's economy a few years ago was due in part to the huge debt from the 2004 Olympics. These games cost Greece over 14 billion instead of the 1.3 billion projected. Zirin explores two favela's in Rio interviewing many of the residents. Each chapter begins with a quote from the brilliant Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano's book Soccer: Sunshine and Shadow, and they capture the love of the game, and the politics of it all.

[Fatemeh Ashori · Rating 4 out of 5]

رقص برزيل با شيطان يك روايت بود روايتي از بلايي كه هيچگاه به ذهنمان خطور نمي كرد كه بازي جذابي مثل فوتبال مي تواند بر سر يك ملت بياورد ... جام جهاني به هر كشوري ورود پيدا كرد نه تنها به آباداني آن كشور كمك نكرد بلكه براي نابودي قشر فقير آن جامعه هرجه در توان داشت انجام داد تا ظاهر فريبنده اش را براي تماشاچيان حفظ كند و ازين طريق ثروت بادآورده اي را به حلقوم سرمايه داران و ابرقدرت ها و مخصوصا فيفا بريزد تا فربه تر شوند ....براي من كه از ابتدا علاقه اي به فوتبال نداشتم و هميشه از خودم مي پرسيدم چرا اين ورزش انقدر مورد توجه كشورها و رسانه هاست و مي توانم بگويم جوابم را در اين كتاب يافتم !
و تشكر از علي عرب زاده براي ترجمه ي روان و فوق العاده ي اين كتاب جذاب

[Katie Klabusich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book. If you care about social justice, ending neoliberalism, joy, sport, history -- this book is for you. It will make a social justice activist care about sport and a sports lover care about social justice. Our lives and interests and cultures are indeed woven together.
"If we love soccer and all sports -- the creative mayhem amid structure, the improvisation amid order, the ability of players to discover new boundaries and a higher sense of confidence within themselves -- then we also have to love every 'nobody' we've ever played pickup ball with, every 'nobody' who created the beauty of the 'beautiful game,' whatever we may feel that beautiful game to be. We also have to realize that the death of public space, the death of leisure time, the death of security, and the fostering of fear means the death of sports as well."

[Bob Schnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book in a swap with a friend for "Dancing with the Devil in the City of God" which I reviewed earlier this year. This book is written by Dave Zirin, a sports writer who also tackles issues off the field and was the first sports editor for "The Nation". In this book he takes on the issue of major sporting events, namely the World Cup and the Olympics, coming into town and helping to tear it down. These "neoliberal Trojan horses" (a phrase used ad naseaum) only help the rich get richer and tend to leave behind a big mess of useless stadiums, displaced poor people and a more militarized police state. Mr. Zirin hopes that Brazil can break the cycle but is worried that it is already too late.

The author spends much of the book on the history of Brazil, its social structure and the increasingly brazen corruption of Brazilian politicians, FIFA and the IOC. He tours the favelas, speaks with protesters, those who have already been harmed by the global sports machine and those who fear they are next in line. He doesn't spend any time speaking to local politicians, FIFA and IOC representatives or anyone else from the other side. Yes, it is easy to paint the rich and powerful as wholly evil and corrupt, but to be fair you have to let them have their say. One highlight for me was his description of "neoliberalism", a term I never fully understood until this book.

Though it would be easy to criticize the author as an outsider looking in, I did get the sense that he truly came to love Brazil and was willing to anger a lot of influential people in an effort to defend its people and culture from the neoliberal agenda. Unfortunately I found his tone a bit too hyperbolic as he built up his righteous indignation leading to the conclusion "that our collective destiny is tied up with every eviction, every surveillance camera, and every cracked skull on the road to the World Cup and Olympics".

[Bryan Winchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

We can always count on Dave Zirin for reporting about sports from the perspective of the 99 percent, not the perspective of almost every other sportswriter out there who usually either plays it safe and hides his/her politics or makes no qualms about being a corporate shill. So if you are at all interested in the real-life, on-the-ground social issues surrounding the Olympics and World Cup, not to mention the fascinating, frightening history of Brazil, this is a wonderful book that covers all the bases. Like his other books, it is at times infuriating, and at times inspiring. While the World Cup continues over the next few weeks, the price the people of Brazil paid and will pay to host this event, as well as the 2016 Rio Olympics, will be put on the backburner and much of that is by design.

But what makes this book even more important, in my opinion, is that it ties into Naomi Klein's classic "The Shock Doctrine" and details how countries like China, England, South Africa and now Brazil have used hosting the World Cup or Olympics as a Trojan Horse for neoliberal "shock doctrine" policies, which is shorthand for policies that benefit the wealthy elites at the expense of the masses. An example that comes to mind from the book is how FIFA demands state-of-the-art stadiums for this month-long event and how, in dry South Africa, one stadium had beautiful green grass due to constant watering while a poor neighborhood nearby lacked basic running water that people need for mere survival. But...let the games go on!

Ultimately, if you want to watch the World Cup and Olympics without a guilty conscience, you'd best stay away from this book. On the other hand, if you want to delve into how something as seemingly wonderful as international sports is being used to make our world a more frightening, less inhabitable place, begin reading!

[Emmkay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read some disturbing news stories about the lead-up to mega-sports events these days. Cost overruns and LGBTQ persecution going into the Sochi Olympics, destruction of Rio favelas, slave labour in Qatar - I was interested to read a book on the subject to gain a more in-depth view, so I sought out this recent book by journalist Dave Zirin on Brazil's experiences. It's an eye-opener.

Zirin provides a condensed history of Brazil for those who, like me, know little about it. He then explores the history of soccer in Brazil, which was fascinating, and moves on to the ignoble history of mega-sports events (hint: decades of oppression and displacement, all conveniently enabled by the assertion that politics has no place in sport). Finally, he turns to the struggle - still ongoing at the time of writing - to preserve favela communities in the face of mounting pressure from developers, given extra momentum by the World Cup and Olympics preparations.

The purple prose is a bit much for me. At one point Zirin comments on how gendered sports writing can be, with lots of superlatives about players making love to the ball. Funnily he doesn't seem to notice how, in his own prose, developers lust after favelas, communities are ravished, there are 'profit orgies', etc etc. Nonetheless I was happy to have learned more about these important issues.

[نشر اسم · Rating 5 out of 5]

بعد شنیدن نام فوتبال دست کم نام اولین کشوری که به ذهنمان متبادر می شود کشور برزیل است. جایی که کودکان در کوچه پس کوچه های آن حتی جوراب هایشان را گلوله می کنند و آن فوتبال بازی می کنند و زندگیشان بدون فوتبال چیزی کم دارد.
بعد از اکتبر 2007 پس از این که فیفا میزبانی جام جهانی 2014 ر ابه برزیل داد همه خوشحال شدند که حق به حقدار رسید. اما از چند ماه قبل از زمان برگزاری مسابقات، خیابان ها مملو از تظاهرکنندگانی بود که عشق اولشان از کودکی فوتبال بود.
دیو زرن نویسنده ی پرتلاش فوتبالی نویس که بیشتر در حوزه خبر ورزشی فعالیت می کند خود را به این شلوغی ها رسانده و در این کتاب به گفت و گو با مردم معترض پرداخته است. او در این کتاب تصویر واقعی از صاحبان اصلی فوتبال را مخابره کرده است. البته برای دقیق تر کردن تصاویرش خواننده را با تاریخ، فرهنگ، سیاست و مردم برزیل هم آشنا می کند و از درگیری هایشان با فیفا و از رئیس جمهور و نسبتش با فوتبال و رویکرد پله و حتی نیمار نیز هم می گوید.

[تیهو · Rating 2 out of 5]

از اون دست متن‌‌های ژورنالیستی که باید تو روزنامه یا مجله چاپ می‌شد ولی از قضا کتاب شده. بخش‌هایی که راجع به تاریخ اجتماعی و سرگذشت برده‌داری و اقتصاد برزیل صحبت می‌کنه از بخش‌های خوندنی‌ کتابه که شاید کمتر کسی براش جالب باشه و خودش بره بخونه. بخش‌هایی هم که دربارهٔ تبعات برگزاری جام‌جهانی و المپیک بر زندگی روزمره حقایقی رو بیان می‌کنه خوندنیه و فکر کنم اگر این بخش رو بخونید دعادعا می‌کنید که هیچ‌گاه جام‌جهانی و المپیک تو کشورتون برگزار نشه‌. و در کل کتاب هم سعی داره پیدایش نئولیبرالیسم رو در برزیل به عنوان یکی از اولین کشورهایی که با نئولیبرالیسم مواجه شده بیان کنه و بگه چه قدر این فیفا و کمیتهٔ برگزاری المپیک دزد و حرام‌زاده‌ن و اینکه این دو حرام‌زاده‌ چه سرپوشی شدن برای نئولیبرالیسم‌بازی. یکی دیگه از بخش‌های جالب کتاب برای خودم هم این بود که بالاخره فهمیدم چرا از «پله» خوشم نمی‌آد.
این رو هم در آخر اضافه کنم که مترجم قلم خوب و خوندنی‌ای نداره و هنگام خوندنش خیلی خسته می‌شید.

[Heather(Gibby) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very eye opening look at how mega sporting events are used to push a neo liberal agenda (or worse) . I learned a lot about the history of FIFA, the IOC and Brazil.

[Daniel Simmons · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of all, let me say that I respect Zirin's general undertaking here: to shine a bright light on the shady goings-on that accompany sports mega-events. And I learned a lot from this book about the ways in which FIFA, the IOC, and the Brazilian government are using these events to implement large-scale changes that benefit a few at the expense of the many. But I found Zirin's incessant hit-you-over-the-head moralizing and tell-rather-than-show style so incredibly irritating that by the end of the book I found myself more annoyed with HIM than with those he targets. Sepp Blatter (now there's a name right out of Hogwarts!) is not just the head of FIFA, he's "the slithering head of FIFA." FIFA itself is "one of the most corrupt, scandal-plagued pits of infamy in the history of sports." Turn to the photo insert and you'll see a shot of the grim-faced author standing at the Maracana stadium in Rio, with the caption, "It was enraging to see this temple of soccer history get its guts torn out." On another photo page is favela resident Armando, "explaining with passion and grace why he refuses to leave his home in Vila Autódromo." Okay, I get it already: Brazilian citizens = good, FIFA = evil. Don't get me wrong, I admire Zirin's passion for the subject; I just think he overstates it, to his disadvantage. (Also, on a completely unrelated note, he uses some very bizarro and misplaced pop cultural references: at one point he sums up former president Lula's political career with a quote from the movie "The Dark Knight." Huh?) There is a good book -- or perhaps just a good long magazine article -- somewhere in here. So why all the excess? Maybe the more judicious editors at his publishing house were afraid they'd get the sledgehammer treatment, too.

[Marti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came away from this book thinking that we should just get rid of giant sporting events altogether unless Fifa, The Olympic Committee and the big corporations who sponsor these events foot the entire bill. And while Zirin's polemic is one-sided, it certainly does seem that in the post-9-11 universe, there is a worldwide conspiracy to Socialize investment and privatize the profit. The security for these events resembles preparations for war more than a celebration. Most citizens are happy to host the games until they find out too late that extreme austerity is the result, while tens of billions get spent on hastily-constructed stadiums that end up crumbling to dust in a few years.

Aside from the massive displacement and waste of public money happening in Brazil, the author points out that the same things have happened in Greece (whose current financial trouble is largely a result of hosting the games in 2004), South Africa, London, Sochi and even Vancouver.

This should be required reading for anyone who lives in a city that is bidding to host the games (because they would certainly work to avoid such a fate if they knew the truth). For instance, anyone reading this in Chicago probably feels like they dodged a bullet. But it isn't just sporting events that allow this sort of theft, it is really any catastrophe. I was struck how the displacement of the Favelas in Rio is similar to the displacement of the poorer sections of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. While decimating entire "high crime" areas may be seen as a good thing by the "Trustifarian" class, it also kills the culture that made those places attractive destinations in the first place.

[David Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent examination of transnational capitalism, sports and politics. As with all of Dave Zirin's writing, this book uses sports as a starting point to talk about the broader realities and violence that defines our hegemonic moment. Discussing history, shock doctrine capitalism, neoliberalism, racism, and resistance movements, Zirin spotlights the dialectics between sporting cultures and larger social formations. Focusing on Brazil, the World Cup, and the Olympics, Zirin traces the history of sports inside and outside of Brazil, highlighting the immense violence, exploitation, and abuse that is part and parcel to these global sporting spectacles. As always, his work is engaging, timely, thoughtful, and informative, informing readers all while he empowers them with the necessary tools, literacy and language to look at sports as more than a game. One can only hope that ESPN and NBC commentators will read this book in preparation of their coverage, giving viewers something to think about in between coke and McDonald's commercials. A must read

[Liz Estrada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, just started this book last night (am in Chapter 2) and am already extremely pissed off. Brazil, unfortunately, was founded on corruption and exploitation, so it's endemic and very hard to undo. Will be interesting to see where this leads. The World Cup (after the massive protests the year before in the Confederation Cup) went relatively well, but yes, for those 2 weeks, you saw no homeless or peddlers, for they were all "rounded up", but sure enough, the day after...they were all back. A true sham.....and I see, living down here, all the massive constructions for the Olympics going on, the huge kick backs to the construction companies who got the "bid" and how the rich are getting richer, while the poor are getting poorer. And now with the whole government under scrutiny for massive corruption and protests everyday...an econic recession like Brazil has not seen in over 25 years....the pot is boiling and is about to burst. Will give my final overview when finished.

[Renato · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very frustrating read. Zirin hits some correct notes, like the business interests of big events. But overall, this reads almost like a high school term paper written about a student who just discovered the left. I hadn't been confronted with as many references to "neoliberal" since watching student protests against the IMF back in the 1990s. Zirin's ideology remains frozen in that decade, it seems. He romanticizes poverty - the favelas are really a great place to live! - and fetishizes about social movements that are so far out in the extreme left that even Lula abandoned them. Zirin is one of the many reductionist writers, for whom there is heaven and hell and nothing in between. Interestingly, this is not so different from some of the "with us or against us" ideologies he would certainly be opposed to. Read if you must.

[Ron Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are not interested in polemics, don't read this book. If you are interested in observing how neoliberalism diverts public wealth from the people into private hands, all for the sake of the "nation," then you should read this book. I learned a bit about Brazilian history and some of the sources of the country's historical inequality and corruption. (Hint: race, class, greed, etc.) Brazil spent billions to build stadiums that will never be used to capacity again, often driving the poor from their homes to complete these construction boondoggles. The people want bread, but all they get are circuses. The book is written with a passion for its cause and for the people he observes, particularly those of the favelas, the impoverished communities with reputations worse than they may deserve.

[Therese Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot about Brazil and about FIFA. The book is a rough overview of the issues.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The big picture idea of this - the Olympics/World Cup as neoliberal shock doctrine - is interesting, but this book bit of way more than it could chew and ended up feeling like a very superficial look at a lot of complicated topics. The author is a sports journalist and it showed in that the strongest parts were around his experiences observing on various other mega-sporting events and the attendant ills. Although women's soccer in Brazil gets a mere 4 pages and half of that is about Marta.

But, whew, the attempt to make this about Brazil's arc of history while primarily citing other white male journalists and Galeano was iffy. He doesn't speak Portuguese and that limited his universe of sources. He drew a lot of very explicit this will be familiar to US readers and had a journalistic tendency to describe every person and place in detail, but also the number of times he said he didn't want to romaticize the favelas was grating.

I'm not sure if my frustration with this book was about my expectations that it would be thoroughly researched and detailed while he wrote it as a journalist giving context to a series of protests he saw. If you come in wanting an overview of Brazil and an overview of massive sporting events as neoliberalism, this is a good book for that. If you wanted depth or a remotely academic angle, try something else. Also just boggles my mind that this book was published before all the dust event settled and I read the "updated" 2016 version when the Olympics were in Rio in 2016.

[Nsikan Akpan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s clear that a lot of research went into this book, and I appreciate that the author did not shy away from Brazilian history, especially relating to Afro Brazilians who built the country and who brought with them from Africa the culture that Brazil is known for.

Another thing I love is the criticism of the whole business of the World Cup and the Olympics - information that is backed up by facts. Now that I am aware of the evils of making these major world events happen, I would like to be proactive in any way I can. I can’t stop them and I don’t even think I want to. The World Cup and Olympics should be a fun time for various inhabitants of the earth to gather and experience the amazing differences between them and their fellow man. HOWEVER, I’m pretty sure there are safer, ETHICAL ways of approaching it. FIFA and the IOC are just greedy and lazy.

[Serge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent analysis of the role that 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics played in sparking million person protests. Zirin casts these billion dollar fiascos as a culmination of centuries long oppression of indigenous and slave descendant peoples. He recognizes the uniqueness of Brazil ( more people of African descent outside of Nigeria, more Italians outside of Italy, more Japanese outside of Japan) and the lasting echo of racial hierarchies wed to neoliberal schemes to concentrate wealth and power. He examines the role that meteoric growth of iron ore, soy, and cattle markets to satisfy the tastes of a burgeoning Chinese middle class played in flooding the Brazilian economy with enough cash to launch the Bolsa Familia but equally enough cash to prme the pump of corruption that Odebrecht and Petrobras control. I am going to use this book with my sophomore world humanities class.

[Glen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of new information about Brazil and new-to-me recent history. Bias in reporting and an over-strong voice of the author hurt every page. What on this page can I trust? makes for a long slog of a book.

[Dave Pier · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are already familiar with basic leftist critiques of prestige sports events, this book may not have much new for you. Relies heavily on Galeano's Soccer in Sun and Shadow for its broader outlook on the sport in Latin American history, and that is probably the better book to start with.

[George Cahlink]

Signed paper

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book. It is probably too polemic to give to just anyone but the facts behind it and the corruption of the olympics and FIFA is beyond disgusting.

[Mariella · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Olympics and World Cup are a neoliberal trojan horse designed from its inception to be a cash grab and experiment in silencing social dissent. Is the thesis of this book. And it proves it by going into histories of the IOC and past olympic events. It just never occurred to me how bad it was in real life, I always knew it was not worth it and was elated when Chicago did not win the one to host this year, because man we would have been broker than we already are trying to pay for it.

In history, the olympics from its beginning has been a war against the poor, because originally at its foundation is this ideal to display only "amateur" athletes. The same idea that colleges use when they rake in the millions from their sports team athletes. This is already a disparity against a true display of superiority, because it suggest that amateurs (WHO ARE NOT PAID WHAT THEY ARE WORTH) are the only ones worth watching. To this day, you don't have to go far to see the terrible wages of olympians that are doing because they are passionate about this sport, and apparently according to the IOC being passionate is all that matters (not paying athletes to you know, eat.)

No where is this is more evident that the horrible 1972 Olympics in Munich, where Israeli athletes were murdered in cold blood in Munich. The Olympics weren't canceled, they went on because money was to made.

Which is why the olympics happen. Its an opportunity for the same companies, every 2 years, to crash land into a country and charge ridiculous amounts of money for building "FIFA or OLYMPIC" quality stadiums. Which just means, new with a lot of money into the pockets of few. It has always been about poor displacement. This is where neoliberalism is at its worse. They take poor enclaves of people, put them out, clean up homeless by locking them up, pay prisons to deny parolees during a certain period, import labor from countries that has led to hundreds of death in dire work conditions, all to make billions for contractors (or for Putin in Sochi, 30 billion for his own pockets). How is this okay?

Because it put forth the nationalist agenda and feeds into what the book describes as a celebratory doctrine. The cousin to shock doctrine, neoliberals lap up the good will of people excited for having "won" something and display how proud they are of where they come from to implement horribly destructive policies that will do nothing for their countries and will leave them further in debt.

I'm horrified because I really enjoyed the spectacle of it all. By no more. Fuck you FIFA and FUCK YOU IOC.

And for fucks sake! The 2022 World Cup will be held in Qatar?? http://fortune.com/2016/03/31/qatar-w...

[Hugo Corbucci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dave Zirin's book brings his journalistic view around the impacts of hosting the World Cup and the Olympics in Brazil. Dave starts by describing a bit of the reality he found in Brazil during his investigative trip. He moves on to describe some of Brazil's history from the Portuguese colonization to the US imposed dictatorship. With this basis, he goes on to explain Lula’s administration and how it came to be that Brazil was selected for both the World Cup and the Olympics.
In what looks like a pause, Dave dives into the history of soccer in Brazil and two of its iconic figures: Pelé and Garrincha. This evolution through soccer in Brazil helps him get to the way the mega sport events (World Cup and Olympics) are used as political instruments since 1950s. He moves on to summarize some of his observations of most of those events between 2004 and 2014 and the coming 2022 world cup in Qatar.
Going back to Brazil, Dave shares the stories he discovered in Rio about what both events are causing to the poor portion of the population. He finishes by explaining some of the protests shown in 2013 during the Confederation Cup.

Overall, the book is obviously very politically biased against neoliberalism and presents a dirty aspect frequently unobserved of such mega-events. Although some of Dave arguments are not necessarily very strong, there are lots of very factual data and explanations around how and why we should be worried of many of those events. Reading the book is enlightening even if you disagree with Dave’s political view. It is not a very positive perspective but it is a necessary one. Dave presents Brazil as an ‘example’ of many other countries in which the people are being screwed by large corporations in a neocolonialism based on information control and capital concentration. As with many other things, the whole mechanism exists to enrich the rich and let the poor pay with sweat and, many times, blood.

I strongly recommend reading. The book is medium size (210 pages) but can easily be read in a week as the text flows fairly well and the information is interesting. Although there are parts that are focused on soccer, there is really no need to have any passion for the sport to make good use of the information in the book. This is a book about politics and history portrayed behind a ‘soccer’ disguise - quite ironic as it describes a neoliberal tank disguised as ‘sport’ events.

[dianne b. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant analysis of critically important social realities. His metaphor of the Trojan Horse for the big sporting events (World Cup, Olympics - both of which are raping and pillaging Brazil within two years of each other - '14, '16). The horse carrying neoliberal redistribution of resources from the poor to the rich, BS reasons for more austerity, totally unnecessary destruction of established homes, neighborhoods, communities in the favelas as real estate developers salivate audibly among other goodies. All of this reverse RobinHoodism is rationalized as the need for "FIFA quality..." stadiums - like ripping apart the historic, (mythical really, to soccer fans) Estádio do Maracanã in Rio. It now seats 70,000 instead of the previous 200,000 seats so everyone could g (and did). Now it has been FIFA-f--ked - and only has seats for the wealthy, as well as a whole lot more corporate luxury boxes. All paid for by the sweat and blood (several deaths from shoddy working conditions) of the poor that will no longer be allowed inside. O-lay! All of this dressed up as a celebration of the beautiful game. As slithering Sepp Blatter (FIFA head) says "All (the protests, anger) will be forgotten as soon as the ball rolls."
Well Dilma HAS done a fine job of tear gassing and brutally suppressing the protests that ARE happening outside the stadiums.

The Brazilians want "FIFA quality" schools and hospitals - but that isn't in the plan.

Don't misunderstand - i LOVE futbol - and have attended the last two World Cups (in Germany '06 and South Africa '10) & had a great time. i do hate FIFA however and their vicious selfishness. Example: they won't allow little guys to sell their stuff (handmade African doll dressed in a soccer uniform, for instance) outside the stadium, or anywhere, anything relating to the games. If it doesn't profit FIFA -it is illegal. And only the "sponsors'" beer (yuck Budweiser -only Budweiser is available - in GERMANY!! Heresy.

Read this book; he is a brilliant, funny, insightful journalist and storyteller of the finest quality. We have long needed D. Zirin to clarify this sporting/disaster capitalism; the more we know, the more successful we'll be in resistance.