As I walked through the streets of Rio de Janeiro on the opening day of the World Cup, I was surprised by the number of different protest slogans ringing out: Não vai ter Copa (There will be no Cup)! Contra estado autoritário e policial (Against an authoritarian and police state)! Eu só quero ser feliz na favela onde eu nasci (I only want to be happy in the favela where I was born)! The masses of bodies were in the streets that day largely for a common cause: accusing the Brazilian government of overspending and corruption, and standing against FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Cariocas are known for their love of soccer. But the massive burden of mega-event development has not escaped the attention of Rio’s citizens. The city held eight World Cup games this summer and is the sole host of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. For the Olympics alone, the city has twenty-one Strategic Development Projects in the works, from new bus lines to housing projects, the total cost of which is USD $10 billion. Many of these expenditures are only loosely connected to the mega-events themselves.

It’s common among dissidents to blame the burden of mega-events on international sport-governing bodies like FIFA and the IOC. What’s not to hate about capitalist regimes that masquerade as nonprofit organizations and take countries for rides of billions of dollars?