Protecting spectator rights: reflections on the General Law of the Cup

Abstract

Using a contractarian frame of analysis, this paper looks at the recently completed World Cup, and especially the controversial General Law of the Cup, which effectively forced Brazil to change laws pertaining to spectator rights and safety. In modern risk management practices, concern exists for what may be called ‘risks in the spaces between,’ which is to say that agreements between parties may be a source of risk for organizations entering into such arrangements. In the process of recounting the story of that law’s passage, the paper considers factors within the negotiation between Brazil and FIFA that are relevant to the generation of risks in the spaces between.