Soccer association FIFA released the official champagne for the 2014 World Cup-an event that many Brazilians find expensive and superfluous in the face of more pressing civil concerns like rising public transportation costs and government scandal.
Despite nationwide demonstrations, millions of angry protesters and a country divided by economic and social issues, the organization in the middle of all of the hubbub might have exacerbated the situation with one simply publicity release.
On Friday, FIFA's partner Taittinger announced a sponsorship deal that deems its bubbly "the official champagne" for this year's match, in addition to next year's finals, the Guardian reported.
"Champagne Taittinger will manifest its presence at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in the months to come through various initiatives with the help of its 150 distributors around the world," the sparkling winemaker said on Friday.
Talk about bad timing: upwards of a million Brazilians flooded the streets on Thursday to continue daily riots against the soccer organization and the country's government that have spanned from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo.
That night, 90 people sustained injuries when police used teargas and rubber bullets against a crowd of about 50,000 people who were on their way to a stadium in Fortaleza where Spain and Italy played a match in the Confederations Cup.
Demonstrators in what is being called "The Salad Revolution" have rallied against the South American nation's government for almost three weeks, protesting the high costs of both the World and Confederate Cups, the slumping economy, heightened cases of police brutality and rising costs of public transit.
Despite the national movement, Taittinger still went public with the news, saying that their 220 reais (around $83) a bottle champagne will be the official cork-popper of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Nearly 10 million people in Brazil live in extreme poverty, the Guardian reported. Access to clean water for these citizens is scarce.
FIFA has spent billions on renovating stadiums for the World Cup.
"I can understand that people are not happy, but they should not use football to make their demands heard," FIFA's president, Sepp Blatter said last week. "Brazil asked to host the World Cup. We didn't force it on them."
