Confederations Cup : "All of the investments benefit the Brazilian economy" (FIFA)

"All of the investments benefit the Brazilian economy. The tournament has created more than 6 000 jobs in the area of gastronomy alone. On top of that come numerous other jobs that have been generated in other sectors, such as hotel industry", said Jérôme Valcke, FIFA's (International Federation of Association Football) general secretary, at the halfway stage of the Confederations Cup in Rio de Janeiro on the 24/06/2013.

"A good example of this is in merchandising : the best-selling fan article is the Fuleco (2014 World Cup armadillo mascot) cap, which was designed and produced by a company based in Parana (Brazilian state, near Sao Paolo). Both FIFA and Brazil are organising the tournament here."

These statements were made on the same day that Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, in response to the widespread protests since mid-June, offered a referendum on "political reform" and announced a new €18.5bn public transport programme.

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"We’ve had 574 180 spectators in the stadiums, which averages out at 47 848 fans per game. That’s the second-highest attendance since the…