RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — World football’s governing body FIFA said yesterday that it has no plans to scrap the Confederations Cup and that no team wants to pull out despite the huge protests rocking Brazil.

“At no stage has FIFA considered or discussed abandoning the Confederations Cup with the local authorities,” FIFA media chief Pekka Odriozola said. “We are monitoring the situation with the authorities.”

“We support the right of free speech,” he added. “We condemn violence.”

Mass demonstrations, which have sometimes turned violent, are taking place as Brazil is hosting teams from around the world for the Confederations Cup, a dry run for next year’s World Cup being held in six host cities.

Many Brazilians are angry that bills for preparing the World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics are running to billions of dollars while many say they are not benefiting in a country racing to overhaul creaking infrastructure.

The mass protests initially began last week in Rio and Sao Paulo over rises in public transport fares.

But Thursday saw an estimated 1.2 million people in more than 100 cities march against public corruption, poor health and education services, as well as high taxes and the big spending on projects such as World Cup stadiums.