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2014 FIFA World Cup

Copa do Mundo de Futebol FIFA Brasil 2014
2014 FIFA World Cup bid logo
Tournament details
Host country	Brazil
Dates	13 June - 13 July

The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the 20th World Cup, an international tournament for football, that is expected to take place between June and July 2014 in Brazil.

This will be the second time the country has hosted the competition, the first being the 1950 FIFA World Cup. Brazil will become the fifth country to have hosted the FIFA World Cup twice, after Mexico, Italy, France and Germany. It will be the first World Cup to have been held in South America since the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina and the first time consecutive World Cups have been staged in the Southern Hemisphere. Brazil also will become the first nation to break the well-established chain of allowing a European nation to host the World Cup Finals every eight years.

Host selection

Joseph Blatter announcing 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil.

On 7 March 2003, the world football body FIFA announced that the tournament would be held in South America for the first time since Argentina hosted the 1978 FIFA World Cup, in line with its policy of rotating the right to host the World Cup amongst different confederations. On 3 June 2003, CONMEBOL announced that Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia wanted to host the 2014 World Cup finals.^[1] By 17 March 2004, the CONMEBOL associations had voted unanimously to adopt Brazil as their sole candidate.^[2] Brazil formally declared its candidacy in December 2006 and Colombia did so as well a few days later. The Argentina bid never materialized. On 11 April 2007, Colombia officially withdrew its bid making Brazil the only official candidate to host the event in 2014.^[3]

Brazil won the right to host the event on 30 October 2007 as the only country to enter a bid.^[4]

Qualification

As the host nation, Brazil qualifies automatically; qualification in the CONMEBOL Region will have nine teams participating.

Qualified teams

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Consecutive World Cups	Last appearance	Previous best performance	Current FIFA Ranking
Brazil	Host	30 Oct 2007	20th	20	2010	Winner (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)	2

Stadia

Seventeen cities showed interest in being chosen as World Cup host cities: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Brasília, Belém, Campo Grande, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Goiânia, Manaus, Natal, Recife/Olinda (a stadium will be shared by both cities), Rio Branco and Salvador.^[5] Maceió withdrew in January 2009.

According to current FIFA practice, no more than one city may use two stadia, and the number of host cities is limited between eight and ten. The Brazilian Confederation requested permission to assign twelve cities hosting World Cup Finals.^[6] On 26 December 2008, FIFA gave the green light to the 12-city plan.^[7]

Venues

The twelve host cities for the 2014 World Cup were announced on 31 May 2009.^[8] Belém, Campo Grande, Florianópolis, Goiânia and Rio Branco were rejected.

Belo Horizonte	Brasília	Cuiabá	Curitiba	Fortaleza
Mineirão Planned capacity: 70,000 (being upgraded)	Estádio Nacional Planned capacity: 71,500 (being upgraded)	Verdão Planned capacity: 42,500 (being upgraded)	Arena da Baixada Planned capacity: 41,375 (being upgraded)	Castelão Planned capacity: 60,000 (being upgraded)
Manaus	Belo Horizonte Brasília Cuiabá Curitiba Fortaleza Manaus Natal Porto Alegre Recife Rio de Janeiro Salvador São Paulo			Natal
Arena Manaus Planned capacity: 50,000 (under construction)				Arena das Dunas Planned capacity: 45,000 (under construction)
Porto Alegre	Recife	Rio de Janeiro	Salvador	São Paulo
Estádio Beira-Rio Planned capacity: 62,000 (being upgraded)	Cidade da Copa Planned capacity: 46,160 (under construction)	Maracanã Planned capacity: 90,000 (being upgraded)	Fonte Nova Planned capacity: 55,000 (under construction)	Morumbi Planned capacity: 62,000 (being upgraded)

Infrastructure

Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) estimates that the cost of construction and remodeling of stadia^[9] alone will be over $1.1 billion US, or some £550 million.^[10] In addition to the stadium upgrades and renovations, there will be millions more spent on basic infrastructure needs to get the country ready.

When informed of the decision to host the tournament, CBF President Ricardo Teixeira said "We are a civilized nation, a nation that is going through an excellent phase, and we have got everything prepared to receive adequately the honor to organize an excellent World Cup." Teixeira was on hand at FIFA's headquarters in Zurich when the announcement was made.

"Over the next few years we will have a consistent influx of investments. The 2014 World Cup will enable Brazil to have a modern infrastructure," Teixeira said. "In social terms will be very beneficial. Our objective is to make Brazil become more visible in global arenas," he added. "The World Cup goes far beyond a mere sporting event. It's going to be an interesting tool to promote social transformation."

Castelão Stadium in Fortaleza.

In September 2008, Brazil's Transport Ministry announced a high-speed train (TAV RJ-SP) project for the World Cup connecting Campinas, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. This would cost US$11 billion.^[11] The technology will most likely be provided by companies from France, Japan, South Korea or Germany which will form consortia with Brazilian engineering firms. The project will be put out to bid in March and construction will begin by early 2010.^[12]

On August 31, 2009 the state airport management agency Infraero unveiled a BRL5.3 billion (USD2.8 billion; EUR2.0 billion) investment plan ^[13] to upgrade airports of ten of the venue cities, increasing their capacity and comfort for the hundreds of thousands of tourists expected for the Cup. Natal and Salvador are excluded because their upgrade works have been recently completed. A significant amount (55.3%) of the money will be spent overhauling the airports of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The investment figure covers works to be carried out up to 2014.

The announcement by Infraero came in reply to criticism made by the Brazilian General Aviation Association, a grouping of private aircraft owners, that Brazil's airports currently could not cope with the World Cup inflow. The vice-president of the association, Adalberto Febeliano, told reporters that more than 500,000 football fans were expected, with each one taking between six and fourteen flights during the tournament to get to the games in various cities.^[14]

The majority of Brazil's airports were built before the end of World War II, and several were at saturation point in terms of passengers, according to the association. It added that it should be possible to renovate the facilities "within three or four years" if the political will exists. Infraero said in a statement: "In the race against time, Infraero is making sure that the sixty-seven airports in its network are in perfect condition and can welcome in comfort and security passengers in Brazil and from abroad."

Development programme

The Brazilian federal government has earmarked 3 billion Brazilian reais (US$ 1.8 billion) for investment in works turned to the FIFA World Cup 2014, and intends to release a package of works, entitled the the World Cup PAC (Portuguese acronym for Growth Acceleration Programme). According to the Brazilian minister of cities, Márcio Fortes, the bulk of funds should go to works pertaining to the world football championship, but the total figure will only be defined after a meeting with representatives of the municipalities that will host the matches.

Brazilian states and cities of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

"This is only an initial figure. We have not set a figure yet. These 3 billion reais will allow us to take the first step. The total value of projects is not known yet. We are going to hold talks with mayors to learn which projects are priorities," said the minister. The funds will be supplied by Pró-Transporte, a financing programme funded by the Severance Pay Indemnity Fund (FGTS) whose regulation was passed last year by the fund's Board of Curators.

According to Fortes, several city councils have already contacted the ministry and showed interest in partnership for carrying out infrastructure work turned exclusively to the Cup that will be held in Brazil. "For some time now, the city councils that will host the matches have been contacting us. The city councils have had meetings with the FIFA and several projects were outlined. Our approach consists of dealing only with projects exclusively turned to the Cup. Our goal right now is not to solve transport-related issues in the city. We are going to help solve the issues pertaining to the events," he stated.

Rio–São Paulo High-speed rail.

According to the minister, another factor to be analysed by the Ministry of Cities is usefulness and sustainability of the investment after the competition is over. "We are not going to deal with huge projects. The cheapest and most efficient means of transport will be used. Of course, each case will be analysed separately," he explained.

Fortes stated that the PAC of the Cup is going to include partnerships with city councils and state governments, as well as some partnerships with the private sector. "The keyword is partnership. The federal government will not undertake anything by itself. It will be similar to the infrastructure PAC, in which we already have partnerships with city councils and state governments, as well as public-private partnerships. We are going to review the type of investment proposed, analyse their size, and the need for private sector participation, which may take place in different ways. The private sector may build and then lease the assets, or perhaps operate them. All of that will be discussed," he stated.

The minister also informed that preparations for the World Cup already include the creation of a line of financing, with funds from the FGTS, for renewing the bus fleet across the country, a decision made approximately two months ago. The line will be made available by the Brazilian Federal Savings Bank with total funds of 1 billion reais (US$ 600 million).^[15]

Tourism

The Brazilian government plans to make the most of the World Cup to spread information on the country, with a view to attracting more visitors, said Jeanine Pires, president of the state tourism organization Embratur, with the hope of attracting some half-a-million foreigners each of whom is estimated to spend about 112 dollars per day. Their very presence is already set to have an impact with a surge in demand for rental accommodation due to the influx of football fans, good news for people who already hold property investments in the Brazilian market.

Arena das Dunas Stadium in Natal.

With games traditionally played in a variety of locations throughout the host country, this is likely to showcase many of the country's major cities, potentially boosting interest from both holidaymakers and overseas property investors. Property ownership in Brazil has recently been triggered by plans for the development of a new international airport in the north. Greater Natal International Airport will be operational by 2010, boosting accessibility to Natal as a result.^[16]

The Brazilian minister of Tourism, Luiz Barreto, who also participated in the forum, bets on the 2014 World Cup to improve the quality of the sector in Brazil. "The Cup is one of the main exhibition opportunities of Brazil to the world," he said. The Ministry's target is to reach 2014 with sixty-five tourist destinations highly qualified to supply tourists. "It should be a great challenge," said Barreto, who signed an agreement with Roberto Marinho Foundation in January for the qualification of 80,000 people for the tourism sector. No matter, in the tourism sector, the minister said that Brazil has been gaining ground. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, in which tourist competitiveness and attractiveness is shown, Brazil stands out in the top position in South America, in second in Latin America and in fourth in the Americas. In the case of a study of the main tourist economies of the WTTC, the country rose from the 14th position in 2008 to 13th in 2009.^[17]

Facts

In 1950, host cities of the World Cup were concentrated in the southeast and south.^[18] In 2014, the host cities are more evenly distributed. All the host cities are capitals of their state. The selection covers all the main regions of Brazil and as a result the tournament will require significant long-distance travel for teams. Brazil is the fifth biggest in the world by geographical size.^[19] Differing from the World Cups held in the Northern Hemisphere, the games will be held during local winter. The cold front comes from Antarctica causing cold weather in the south, dry in central part of the coutry, and rainy weather in the north. However, the future stadia are being prepared for these conditions.^[20]

FIFA, which held its annual Congress in the Bahamas, agreed to increase the number of host cities from ten to twelve because of the size of Brazil. "In the very beginning, ten cities were going to be chosen, but thanks to the influence of (Brazilian Football Confederation president) Ricardo Teixeira and the interest of the whole country, we agreed increasing the number to twelve," said FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Teixeira briefed FIFA members about all seventeen candidate cities.^[21]

A reported 1 billion dollars is to be approved for the repair, upgrading and maintenance of Brazilian stadia. However, aiming to build "state of the art" stadia and, therefore, increasing their chances to be part of 2014's tournament, some Brazilian states are searching for expertise abroad. Recently delegations from Recife and Porto Alegre, for example, visited the Amsterdam Arena in order to familiarise with the formula which made that stadium highly profitable. Amsterdam Arena, the home of Ajax FC, has developed and is offering its expertise on the multi-use-purpose stadium concept & management. Amsterdam Arena has been developed to accommodate not only football matches but also concerts and events. Amsterdam Arena is currently developing two projects for Brazil: Recife/Olinda and Porto Alegre (Grêmio).^[22]

References

External links

• FIFA Official Announcement
• The official site Brazil 2014 Bid

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