Officials in Manaus, a northern city which will host four matches during the tournament, say the drastic move was prompted by the rising waters of a local tributary to the Amazon River. According to the UK Telegraph , there is a risk that the tributary will flood.
The officials say the declaration is simply a “preventive measure”, designed to make emergency resources easily accessible. They claim any flooding will not damage the city’s stadium, the Arena da Amazonia.
Water isn’t the only problem in Manaus. Earlier this week, out-of-date food was discovered in the hotels where England and Italy are set to stay during the group stage, the Telegraph reports. England’s hotel is “close to a violent slum” as well.
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Combine those issues with the number of preparation projects that are running behind schedule across the country, along with security concerns, and Brazil appears to be battling a rising tide of chaos.
Earlier this month, Brazilian sports minister Aldo Rebelo admitted the World Cup was facing “serious” security problems, and then tried to downplay those issues by insisting the country was not a war zone like Iraq or Afghanistan.
That’s probably not the sort of comparison he should have been making.
About 150,000 soldiers and police will flood the nation’s 12 host cities during the tournament.
Protests and riots have already rocked Brazil, raising fears about the safety of incoming football fans.
During last year’s Confederations Cup, more than a million protesters took to the streets in a single night to demonstrate against the government. Many of the protests turned violent, and at least six people were killed.
Now Brazilians are angry at the World Cup’s price tag, which is in the billions of dollars.
So yes. There are a few things to work on.
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