The latest row in the trouble stricken  Maracano Stadium is between the holders of  perpetual tickets and Rio  officials, who want to negate these rights in order to hand  over a ‘clean’ stadium to  FIFA.  Who in effect will have sole control of the stadium for the duration  of the tournament.  Perpetual Ticket Holders received the concession in 1950 in return for sponsorship and an annual subscription.

However the loss of  stadium seats, seems of little consequence, when compared to the loss of   homes belonging to  thousands of families who  have been forcibly evicted.  The eviction orders come under the  guise of  infrastructure developments  for the  World Cup and the Olympics, or sometimes the reason  given is for safety  such as  preventing  land slides.   More often than not  it is a means to acquiring what has become valuable real estate for  the gentrification of favelas.

With little chance to contest the eviction orders, families and their communities are uprooted and relocated to the edges of the city away from their work and away from services. Compensation rights are mired in bureaucracy and  difficult to access.

This video captures the views  of residents  who  have been relocated and highlights in particular the cost of travel into the city, which  interestingly is an  employer responsibility,  but  which often results in workers been sacked because of this increased cost.