Corruption claims sour mood of Brazil's World Cup party

Can the footballers rescue football? The World Cup has finally kicked off, and true lovers of the game must be hoping that the quality of the football and the spirit of the fans will rescue the badly tarnished reputations of both Brazil, the host country, and of Fifa, the world governing body of football.

The dreams of Sepp Blatter, the ambitious president of Fifa, of taking the so-called "beautiful game" to world sports domination are turning to nightmares. New squalid facts, allegations and rumours are emerging every week suggesting that the game may be beautiful, but some of its leading figures are too close to dark and shadowy criminal forces.

In Brazil, described as the spiritual home of soccer because of the exhilarating talent of its players, you might think there would be general rejoicing.

But the local mood is sour: from the beautiful beaches of Copacabana and fine houses in Rio de Janeiro to the favelas of many cities, people have been on the streets demonstrating against government spending on ornate stadiums that will be hardly used when the teams have gone home. Brazil's bill for hosting the tournament has soared to US$11.5 billion, against an original cost of US$1 billion, and more than three times as much as it cost South Africa in 2010.

"We want more funding for schools, hospitals, housing, transport - not the cup" is the rallying cry of the protesters. They may have something in their claims.

Brazil's pain or gain is seen in Geneva, Fifa's headquarters, as its local problem. Fifa itself has notoriously been accused of pocketing fat profits from television and commercial rights and giving only tokens of it to the host country, which has massive expenses. Fifa is expecting revenues of more than US$4 billion from Brazil, more than it gained from South Africa.

Meanwhile, two major newspapers have made dangerous allegations against Fifa.