Anti-World Cup protest in Sao Paolo

The year's first major protest against the World Cup drew more than 2,000 demonstrators into the streets of Brazil's largest city yesterday, as frustration over the cost of the tournament lingers in the host country.

About 100 people were arrested after violence broke out following the largely peaceful event.

On its Facebook page, the Anonymous Rio protest group billed "Operation Stop the World Cup" as this year's first act against the football tournament.

The demonstrators gathered in front of the Sao Paulo art museum for about an hour before heading out to another part of the city chanting slogans against the tournament.

As they approached the central area, some demonstrators attacked an empty police car and tried to overturn it, while others torched a small car.

During the demonstration several protesters chanted: “If we have no rights, there will be no Cup.”

University student Leonardo Pelegrini dos Santos said: "By rights we mean the people's right to decent public services.

“We are against the millions and millions of dollars being spent for the Cup. It is money should be invested in better health and education services and better transportation and housing.”

Fellow student Juliana Turno said: "This is a small sample of the protests that will happen when the World Cup begins and will be bigger than those of last year."

The cost of new stadiums outraged many demonstrators demanding more investment in public transportation, healthcare and education.

Politicians and investors are watching closely this year to see if another wave of protests could sully the image of the World Cup or weigh on the popularity of President Dilma Rousseff ahead of elections in October.

As the largely peaceful Sao Paulo demonstration wrapped up around sunset, local television registered isolated acts of vandalism, including broken bank windows, a smashed police car and a Volkswagen beetle engulfed in flames.

Last year, millions of people took to the streets across Brazil complaining of higher bus fares, poor public services and corruption while the country spends billions on the World Cup, which is scheduled to start in June.

Those demonstrations coincided with the Confederations Cup football tournament, a warm-up tournament for the World Cup

In Rio de Janeiro, about 50 protesters gathered in front of the Copacabana Palace hotel, holding up signs blasting the World Cup and occasionally chanting.

After about an hour, the crowd moved onto a main street that runs along Copacabana beach, halting traffic as police watched from the side.

Small demonstrations were also held in several other cities.

Agencies