Lagging preparations are concerning
TCU, a budget watchdog in Brazil, has described Brazil’s preparations for the 2014 World Cup as “impressively late” according to Khaleej Times Online.
In the report TCU found that work on stadiums, adjacent roads and urban developments and hotel and transport infrastructure were extremely behind. Belief that Brazil was behind on preparations is a sentiment that has also been shared by football’s world governing body, FIFA, over the last few months according to Khaleej Times Online.
Renovations coming soon?
With the completion of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, attention has now switched to Brazil 2014. Winning the bid for the World Cup came with stipulations and deadlines for works in Brazil.
One such deadline was May 3, for work to begin on 12 stadiums needed for the World Cup. Out of those twelve, only three had seen work start by that date according to Reuters Africa. Expansions to the nations airports (which should be underway) are expected to be able to accommodate the thousands of visitors that will come to Brazil for the World Cup, but work on these are lagging as well.
A lack of planning and execution problems seems to be what are plaguing works for the World Cup according to Estado Newspaper.
Lula’s response
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva bashed the critics of the preparations at a bidding ceremony for a new bullet train between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro according to Khaleej Times Online. Coincidently that same bullet train will not be ready for the World Cup. President Lula, did say that it could be ready in time for the Olympics according to Reuters Africa.
The president has presided over Brazil’s economic revival and the awarding of the World Cup and Olympics has been viewed as vote of confidence for the country’s improvement. Brazil does provide a similar situation to that of South Africa who wrapped up the World Cup on July 11, which needed major renovations to be ready for the world’s largest tournament.