New Poll Shows Brazilians' Priorities Lay Outside Olympics

(ATR) For the first time a majority of Brazilian do not support the 2016 Olympic Games.

A poll conducted by Brazilian agency Datafolha conducted on July 14-15 showed that 50 percent of Brazilians did not support the upcoming Rio 2016 Olympic Games, versus only 40 percent support. The same poll done in 2013 showed that 64 percent of Brazilians supported the Games, with a disapproval rating of 25 percent.

In the latest poll 63 percent of respondents said that the Olympics would not leave a positive benefit for Brazilians after it is completed.

In 2009, opinion polling by the IOC showed that the 2016 Olympic Games had 80 percent public support in the city of Rio de Janeiro, and 69 percent support nationally.

Maurício Rocha, a professor of political science at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, told Around the Rings that a variety of different crises are weighing more on Brazilian’s minds leading to the lack of support less than 20 days out from the Olympics. He predicts that as positive media coverage ramps up, more people will become interested in the Olympics again due to the "party feeling that comes with the Games."

"The perception is that there are more important priorities than the Olympics and that public resources allocated for the Games would be better applied to issues such as security, health and education," Rocha added. "For those who live in Rio de Janeiro, this feeling is probably stronger, because of the collapse of many public services due to the financial failure of the state government."

Support for the Games has eroded in the past year given the litany of political and economic crises that have hit Brazil. The economy has contracted over the past two years due to the loss of oil revenue, the ever-expanding Petrobras corruption scandal, and the current political crisis, which has seen President Dilma Rousseff suspended from office due to an ongoing impeachment trial.

The state of Rio de Janerio has been hit hardest from the financial crisis, with the acting state governor Francisco Dornelles declaring a "state of public calamity," in order to receive an $850 million federal bailout to fund final basic Games preparations at the expense of social services. Before receiving the bailout, police officials protested at the city’s international airport warning travelers "Welcome to Hell," as state officials, including policeman, had not been paid for the month of June.

Rio 2016 did not return requests from ATRfor comment on the poll, while the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro's office declined to comment.

"Given the crisis in Rio de Janeiro, there is substantial risk of serious problems during the Games including organizational and infrastructure failures, violence and insecurity, and even the threat of a terrorist attack," Rocha said. "Any of these items would bring a lot of damage to the already scarce support of the Brazilians."

Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro

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