Brazil’s stadium challenge
This article first appeared in the December 2009 issue
Brazil’s footballing stature is without question, but have World Cup 2014 organisers aimed too high by planning a mighty dozen stadiums?
Brazil is, by far, the most successful nation in international soccer history. No less than five World Cup trophies decorate the office of the Brazilian FA in Rio de Janeiro. The quality is proven by the close to 3,000 Brazilians that leave the country annually to find employment as a player in competitions elsewhere in the world.
The proposed new Castelão stadium in Fortaleza
In 2014, hosting the biggest sports tournament in the world will give Brazil the perfect opportunity to prove that not only does it produce the best players in the world; it also produces the best venues.
Intense competition
The competition between 17 Brazilian cities to host World Cup matches was so intense that national football officials ultimately delegated the responsibility of choosing between the candidates to FIFA. The FIFA officials settled on 12 cities: Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Cuiaba, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Sao Paulo. “The interest in Brazil was huge, and it was a very difficult decision to choose just 12 venues from the initial list of 17,” FIFA President Blatter said.
In contrast, South Africa 2010 will use 10 stadiums in nine cities. While the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany also used 12 venues, Germany had most of its infrastructure already in place. But in Brazil, not one of the proposed venues is yet up to FIFA’s international standards, so a lot of construction work will be necessary.
Hosting such an important event comes with a long list of requirements for venues and hosting cities to comply with. FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke says: “We went to Brazil in July this year and we did an inspection visit. We noticed that, at this stage, no stadium in Brazil is ready to host a World Cup event. Some stadiums don’t have sufficient seating capacity, while others need serious upgrades.”
Such changes can only be implemented at a price and creating a return on investment is a major challenge. This has sparked debate as to whether is necessary to use venues in so many cities – particularly now that Brazil is also investing heavily in hosting the 2016 Olympic Games.
Constraints rule out Morumbi
Morumbi Stadium may be the biggest stadium in São Paulo, the biggest city in the southern hemisphere, but it’s not spacious enough for the World Cup. “There is not enough space to expand the stadium capacity to meet FIFA requirements,” Valcke told Host City in South Africa. “It also doesn’t have enough space in the precinct to provide other services.”
Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) president Ricardo Terra Teixeira said: “There are no winning and losing cities here in Brazil. We are all taking part in the World Cup and we can all be proud. For the 12 privileged cities chosen, it is the beginning of the work. They have a huge responsibility.”
Despite the challenges ahead, Valcke says that he is unaware of a discussion to have the number of venues reduced for the 2014 event. “The reduction of the number of stadiums for the 2014 FIFA World Cup has not been discussed in my office,” says the man who closely works together with the local organising committees of the 2010 and 2014 World Cup events.
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