In less than one year Brazil will play to host to the
Confederations Cup football tournament, the traditional warm-up event for the
World Cup, which will take place in the country in 2014.
By next June organisers need to have six stadiums ready for
the two-week event, as well as the surrounding infrastructure and
communications network in place.
There have been some voices of criticism about the
preparations, including from former football legend Romario, a 1994 World Cup
winner-turned-politician.
But the man in charge of delivering the two events is
confident that everything is on track.
"We are really in a good position, we are moving
forward well - I am talking not only about the World Cup, but also the
Confederations Cup next year," says Ricardo Trade, operations director of
the 2014 World Cup local organising committee.
We want to show that our country can receive far more
visitors than it does at present”
"We are closely monitoring how work is progressing in
the stadiums in the 12 [World Cup host] cities; and we are very confident about
the work programme in these cities.
"We are also closely liaising with Fifa, as they are
helping us to build these stadiums for the two events, and producing constant
feedback and monitoring reports on progress so far."
Mr Trade - who estimates the World Cup will inject 112.8bn
reais (£36bn; $56bn) into the Brazilian economy by 2014 - says city, state,
and, increasingly, federal authorities, are also working closely with event
organisers.
"They are all working to improve the infrastructure of
our cities and of our country for the World Cup and Confederations Cup,"
he said.
"It is not our role, but we are monitoring the
infrastructure progress in each city, as well as at the stadiums".
Mr Trade estimates that some 22.4bn reais (£7bn: $11bn) is
being invested in World Cup infrastructure projects, such as the stadiums,
roads, airports and public transport.
Ricardo Trade, operations director of the 2014 World Cup
local organising committee Mr Trade says there is constant scrutiny of the
stadium development programme
On the actual running of the World Cup, he is also in
frequent talks with Fifa and the operators of the 12 stadiums "to ensure
that this complex structure functions correctly".
Mr Trade is looking to establish common policy across the
dozen venues in the areas of hospitality, medical services, marketing, the
press, TV, security, accreditation, technology, transport, logistics and
cleaning.
The organisers' relationship with Fifa in the past has been
somewhat rocky, with the world football governing body having raised concerns
about delays in stadium renovation.
WORLD CUP 2014 VENUES
Belo Horizonte
(CC 2013)
Brasilia (CC
2013)
Cuiaba
Curitiba
Fortaleza (CC
2013)
Manaus
Natal
Porto Alegre
Recife (CC 2013)
Rio de Janeiro
(CC 2013)
Salvador (CC
2013)
Sao Paulo
However, last month Fifa sounded more emollient when it
reported on the progress of work in the stadiums, the roads, and the airports.
"There is still a lot to do but we are on the good
track, and there are currently no stadiums in the red," said Fifa.
One continued infrastructure worry though is the state of
progress on upgrading Brazil's airport network, essential in such a large
country and one where there is no established rail network.
Of 13 terminals being upgraded, 10 are unlikely to be
completed by June 2014, a government-backed Institute for Applied Economic
Research report said this spring.
"As I mentioned, this is not our responsibility, but we
are confident they will be ready on time," asserts Mr Trade.
Meanwhile, World Cup legend Romario has criticised the
finances around the tournament, and also questioned whether the capital
Brasilia needs such a huge, 75,000 seater stadium.
The former forward, now a member of Brazil's Chamber of
Deputies, says the arena will never see a big football game again after 2014.
Romario in action for Brazil in the 1994 World Cup final
Romario has been asking questions about the staging of the World Cup
"It is not my position to talk about Romario, he is a
very important guy," says Mr Trade.
However, he says that a lot of "good stadiums"
have been built in Brazil that were not used only for football, but for other
sports and activities too.
"Maybe that is the solution they will use here,"
Mr Trade says.
And he insists that organisers are "not going to
abandon stadiums" after the World Cup, but that they will be taken over by
operating companies after the 2014 event.
In Rio, where the finals of both the Confederations Cup and
World Cup will be hosted, he says there is the "challenge" of
renovating the iconic Maracana stadium, "a major part of the country's
football heritage".
'Not just Rio and Sao Paulo'
At another World Cup host city, Belo Horizonte, they are
digesting the lessons learnt on a recent visit to study the operations of the
London Olympics.
"I was very impressed by the work of the
volunteers," says the city's World Cup executive co-ordinator Flavia
Rohlfs.
Flavia Rohlfs of the Belo Horizonte World Cup organising
committee Flavia Rohlfs has been in London to study how the Olympic Games
operated
"They were everywhere and I liked the way they were
constantly asking people if they were OK."
The city has not posed any problems for Fifa when it comes
to the preparation of their stadium, and Ms Rohlfs says work is also
progressing well on transport preparations.
A three-line bus rapid transit (BRT) system is being build,
and two new roads.
The city's main international airport is being upgraded to
handle more passengers, as is the secondary airport in order to handle more
charter and domestic passengers.
And Mr Trade says that tourism across the entire country can
flourish during the World Cup
"We want to show that our country can receive far more
visitors than it does at present," he says.
"We want people to visit not just Rio and Sao Paulo,
but all 12 cities."
