Brazil protesters aim to drag FIFA out of the shadows and into the light to create a lasting legacy.

For people just tuning in, the idea people in Brazil would protest the 2014 World Cup makes about as much sense as New Yorkers rebelling against pizza. And yet here we are, less than a month before its start, and demonstrations bear the slogan #NãoVaiTerCopa, or “There will be no Cup.”

Protests, strikes and direct actions have been flaring up across the country as the 2014 FIFA World Cup approaches. Most notably, as many as 10,000 people in Sao Paolo under the banner of Brazil’s Homeless Workers Movement, or MTST, has occupied a major lot next to Arena Corinthians, site of the World Cup’s opening match. They call their occupation “The People’s Cup” and point out that the nearly half a billion dollars that went into building the “FIFA quality stadium” next door could have been used to combat poverty. The slogan “we want FIFA quality hospitals and schools” still rings out as it did a year ago, when during the Confederation’s Cup, Brazil saw its largest protests in a generation. Now there is an even sharper desperation as the cup approaches.

This belief that the lion’s share of Cup expenditures are for foreign consumption while the disruption and pain will be shouldered by Brazil’s masses is widespread. Every protest, every rally, every cry of despair is connected to the “the three Ds’”: displacement, debt and defense. The stats on displacement, debt and defense can be numbing or easy to disregard for outsiders. The numbers on people expelled from their homes vary wildly, but without question, hundreds of thousands of the most vulnerable residents in the country have been or will be relocated, whether by financial reimbursement or the barrel of the gun.

THE STATS ON DISPLACEMENT, DEBT AND DEFENSE CAN BE NUMBING.

As far as debt, this will be the most expensive World Cup in history, with a low-estimate price tag of $15 billion. And then there is “defense.” In addition to harsh new “anti-terror” legislation, Brazil’s government will have more boots on the ground than any World Cup: more than 170,000 security personnel, 22 percent more than South Africa in 2010. This brand of “defense” will drive up the displacement and debt on the ground in Brazil, as “safety” becomes the catch-all for President Dilma Rousseff and the ruling Workers Party’s every step. It is also “defense” that is driving people into the streets to say Não vai ter Copa. The “defense” operation has put the near entirety of its focus on internal targets, which creates the appearance that all of this money is being spent to protect wealthy soccer tourists from the people of Brazil themselves.

The protests aim to highlight the pain and show the world who is pulling the strings. There is a highly sophisticated awareness as the government’s World Cup plans for Brazil are designed for international consumption, there is also an unprecedented global spotlight. Protesters aim for nothing less than to drag FIFA from the shadows and into the light. If they are successful, it will leave a legacy that will last longer than the spectacle itself.

DAVE ZIRIN’s new book is Brazil’s Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, the Olympics and the Fight for Democracy.