By Stephen Eisenhammer, Emily Green, Cassandra Garrison and Sarah Morland
MEXICO CITY, June 11 (Reuters) – With Mariachi costumes, trumpets, and a sea of dark green support, Mexico City prepared to open the World Cup on Thursday, as fans packed the famous Azteca stadium ahead of the opening game between Mexico and South Africa, amid a backdrop of protests around the capital.
Long queues wrapped around the Azteca as fans faced a long wait to enter the first stadium to host matches across three World Cups. Inside, thousands sang ahead of kickoff.
Alejandro Garcia, 50, decked out in a sombrero and carrying a replica trophy, said he was proud that Mexico was hosting another World Cup. He was a young kid when the country last hosted the tournament in 1986.
“This is our temple,” he said on the concourse around the Azteca. “It’s going to be a great World Cup, all of the protests will now be forgotten.”
But outside the ground, the city of 9 million people remained deeply divided.
The run-up to the tournament in Mexico, which the country is co-hosting with the U.S. and Canada, has been marked by social unrest in the capital as various groups — from teachers to families of those missing in the drug war — have marched in attempts to leverage the international spotlight to advance their cause.
At least six protests were planned on Thursday, with the city a contradiction of celebration and opposition. Freshly painted murals, new trains and a revamped stadium aimed at welcoming tourists for the games contrasted with steel barricades mounted by businesses to protect themselves from rioters along the capital’s main avenue.
CAMPS AND MARCHES
About three miles from the Azteca, thousands of disgruntled teachers from around the country began marching towards the stadium ahead of the match.
Avelina Cruz Miguel, who has taught elementary school for 22 years, travelled from Oaxaca to protest for better pay. She said the protests offered an opportunity for the teachers to make their demands known at “an international level.” “There is no support for education” in Mexico, she said.
Teachers had also camped outside the central Zocalo square for days leading up to the start of the tournament.
The encampment forced authorities to barricade the entrance to the Zocalo on the eve of the competition opener and raised fears the area would be closed to fans who had planned to amass in the square to watch on a big screen.
On Thursday, tents lined the streets for multiple blocks surrounding the square but authorities confirmed the fan zone would be open.
Mario Martinez, 30, from Tijuana, was one of the first fans to enter with his girlfriend. He said they had come to the fan zone because stadium tickets were too expensive and had been worried the event would be cancelled. “Thank God it all worked out.”
Many residents have complained money was being spent to beautify the city for visitors without addressing underlying infrastructure issues. Thursday was declared an official holiday in Mexico City, in part to alleviate transport concerns.
Other Chilangos, as Mexico City locals are known, complained of prohibitively high ticket prices that had kept them from seeing the spectacle live in their home town. For the opening match between Mexico and South Africa some fans interviewed by Reuters said they had paid $3,000 or more, way out of reach for most Mexicans. FIFA has defended its pricing saying the cost of tickets is on a par with other major sporting events.
“FIFA is only interested in profit,” said Jonathan Cordoba, 33, as he stood in a long queue to enter the stadium. But he said he had no regrets: “It’s the passion!”
(Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer, Emily Green, Cassandra Garrison and Sarah Morland in Mexico CityEditing by Toby Davis)
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