World Cup Brazil 2014

Last year, the President of CBF announced that there was an idea to employ ex-convicts in the building of the stadiums of the World Cup 2014.

In Brazil, there is a huge supply of uneducated workers, which makes it very difficult for ex-convicts (most of them with little or no formal education) to find a job; using the World Cup to give a chance to those people seems like a good initiative.

Fortunately, the idea seems to be coming true.

The Governor of Brasilia announced that he just authorized the works in the National Stadium (the contract had been signed last week), and that 5% of the 1,500 workers will be ex-convicts (see also this CBF note).

These workers are in open or semi-open regimes, which means that they still have to report periodically to the prisons. Salary was not informed; minimum wage in Brazil is R$ 510, a bit less than US$ 300 – and workers have transportation and food assistance, plus social security.

The Ministry of Tourism in Brazil is still in the process of re-creating the Classification System of Means of Accommodation. Meanwhile, it is not easy for potential guests to find an unbiased evaluation of hotels in Brazil.

Veja, the most influential Brazilian magazine, published some time ago a guide of best hotels in Brazil; the guide sorts hotels by city and event (such as “the best hotel for the Sao Paulo Fashion Week in Sao Paulo“), and is still a good indicator of the finest hotels in Brazil.

In Sao Paulo: Hotel Unique (photo below),  Sofitel, Transamerica, Grande Hotel Senac. See other hotels in Sao Paulo.

In Rio de Janeiro: Le Meridien, Sheraton, Pousada Pardieiro. See other hotels in Rio de Janeiro.

In Santa Catarina: Plaza Blumenau. See other hotels in Florianopolis.

In Salvador: Bahia Othon. See other hotels in Salvador.

In Curitiba: Mabu Royal and Premium Hotel. See other hotels in Curitiba.

In Brasilia: Melia. See other hotels in Brasilia.

In Recife: Atlante Plaza. See other hotels in Recife.

In Natal: Serhs (photo below). See other hotels in Natal.

In Fortaleza: Bluetree. See other hotels in Fortaleza.

In and near Manaus: Tropical, Amazon River, Crowne Plaza. See other hotels in Manaus.

The Government of Brasilia signed yesterday, after the due bidding process, the contract to build the new National Stadium.

The winner of the bidding process was the consortium formed by Andrade Gutierrez and Via Engenharia; the contract value is R$ 696 million (a little less than US$ 400 million). The Governor affirmed that Brasilia already has the cash needed to build the stadium, but is still considering to take a loan from the National Development Bank.

The National Stadium will be the new name of the current Mané Garrincha Stadium, with 40,000 seats, opened in 1974, which belongs to the Government of the Federal District of Brazil.

Mané Garrincha will go through a complete overhaul, but will not be completely demolished. The photos show images of the old Mané Garrincha and the New National Stadium.

The National Stadium will have 70,000 seats and will be one of the largest stadiums of the World Cup 2014; as such, the venue is claiming to be the stage of the opening and one of the semi-final matches of the event (Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre and Sao Paulo are also interested in hosting those matches).

The cost, which is already of the highest among all stadiums in Brazil (second only to Maracana, which will cost R$ 720 million), will likely go even higher. First, because the cost doesn’t include the Telecom system – which will be planned only after FIFA defines which technology shall be used). And, if the Stadium is chosen to host the opening match, then it will need to have all seats covered – a demand by FIFA -, which will also have to be included in the price.

The works should be finished by December 2012, so that the stadium will be ready to be one of the venues of the Confederations Cup 2013.

When asked whether, given the lack of football tradition in Brasilia, the National Stadium won’t become a white elephant after the Cup, the Governor responded that “several companies have contacted us for partnerships, and the stadium will become an entertainment center after 2014″.

Today, June 11th 2010, we saw the opening match of the World Cup 2010 (South Africa 1 x 1 Mexico).

At the very moment that the ball started rolling (4 pm, local time), the temperature in Johannesburg was 18º C (64º F); the matches which happen at night experienced even lower temperatures. And, as the Southern Hemisphere moves into winter, the temperatures should fall even more.

Update: on June 15th, the day that Brazil played against North Korea, the temperature in Johannesburg was -4º C (-24º F).

Considering that Brazil is also in the Southern Hemisphere, what temperatures can be expected during the World Cup, which should take place between June and July of 2014?

The graphs below show the expected weather for today, June 6th 2010, in all Brazilian cities which will stage games of the Cup. The graphs show minimum temperature, maximum temperature, sunny/rainy weather and intensity of Ultra-Violet rays.

In the cities by the sea (namely: Natal, Recife, Fortaleza, Salvador and Rio de Janeiro), average temperatures are high, even during the winter. In Manaus and Cuiabá, which are located near the Equatorial Line, temperatures are also high during all year.

In the Southern cities of Porto Alegre and Curitiba, temperatures are expected to be low during the matches. Visitors should definitively bring their coats.

Belo Horizonte and São Paulo are located near the Tropic Line, and both are at a high altitude (around 800 m, 2,500 ft); this makes the weather of these cities more unpredictable.

The World Cup 2014 will be warmer than the World Cup 2010.

Today, April 21st 2010, Brasilia is celebrating its 50th anniversary; Brasilia was designed and built to be the Federal capital of Brazil.

Brasilia is one of the host cities of the World Cup 2014, and not an ordinary one. Given that the final match of the Cup will be in Maracanã, Brasilia is disputing with other major cities (like Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte) the privilege to host the opening match, or, at least, one of the semifinals.

And that was not very difficult to happen. The Government of Brasilia is planning to build the second largest stadium for 2014, the National Stadium, with a capacity of 71,000 people; meanwhile, Morumbi, the stadium in Sao Paulo, is having trouble to adapt to FIFA’s demands (last week, FIFA, instead of ruling out final matches in Morumbi,  euphemistically said that the stadium is ready to host Group Games of the Cup). Besides, there is a strong political interest to put Brasilia under the spotlights during the Cup.

What  can a traveler do in Brasilia?

Firstly, it is worth noticing that, thanks to the central position, the airport of Brasilia is one of the main hubs in Brazil; many flights connecting the South, North and Northeast of Brazil stop over in Brasilia. This means that will be rather easy to go to Brasilia and from there to any other host city.

Most Seats of Power in Brasilia are open to visitation. Within a mile walk around Three Powers Square, one can visit the Brazilian Congress, the Presidential Palace and the Supreme Court; several Ministries (such as the Foreign Relations and the Justice) are also open. Oscar Niemeyer, the architect who designed most buildings in Brasilia, scattered monuments all over the city, most of which are in open air or open to visitation (the National Theater, the Cathedral, the National Museum, JK Memorial).

Brasilia was designed with quality of life in mind. Residences and services are laid out orderly, to make transit and daily life easier. Being the city with the highest average income in Brazil, Brasilia has certainly sereral shopping centers and a busy nightlife. There are several environment friendly areas (the Parque da Cidade and the Lago Paranoá are the most outstanding examples). Climbing the TV Tower is the best way to have an overview of Brasilia landscape.

Brasilia has a very strong spiritual side (not to be confused with religious side). Many believe that Brasilia is the realization of a prophecy by Italian priest Dom Bosco, who dreamt of a new Canaan in the Tropics; Dom Bosco followers have several sanctuaries in Brasilia. Good Will Legion, one the largest philantropic institutions in Brazil, has headquarters in Brasilia, with several worshiping places; the Good Will Temple was built under a pyramid which is said be mystic. Visiting Brasilia is a good way to recharge one’s spiritual forces.

And then there are places to see in the neighbourhood. Brasilia is entirely surrounded by the State of Goiás, which maintains traditions of the old country side cities. The old city of Goiás is a World Heritage Site. Pirenopolis is well known for the waterfalls, colonial architecture and traditional feasts with roots in Colonial times. And several cities around Brasilia offer trips to know the Cerrado, one of the Brazilian biomas.

Brasilia doesn’t have the beaches of the Northeast of Brazil, the grandness of Sao Paulo, the cultural diversity of the South; however, there are attractions to keep a visitor busy for several days.

On October 30th 2007 (nearly two and a half years ago), FIFA named Brazil as the host country of the World Cup 2014; and on June 1st 2009 (nine months ago), FIFA and CBF announced the twelve host cities of the Cup.

FIFA set March 1st 2010 as the deadline for all hosts to have started the works to build or refurbish the stadiums; today, March 3rd 2010, only three of the hosts have started some works (but not one brick has been laid – see report further below).

A few weeks ago, FIFA expressed preoccupation with the delays in South Africa;  “if the World Cup started tomorrow, we wouldn’t be ready”, said Secretary General Jerome Valcke. Yesterday, when celebrating the 100 days countdown to the 2010 World Cup, Valcke declared that “FIFA won’t have with Brazil the same patience they did with South Africa“.

CBF sent a message to all host cities, demanding explanations for the delays. A new deadline was set to start works: May 3rd. CBF said that cities which don’t comply with deadlines may loose their rights to host matches. The deadline for all stadia to be finished continues to be December 31st 2012, six months before the kick off of the Confederations Cup 2013.

Current situation of the stadiums:

Belo Horizonte: works scheduled to start on June 12nd; the Government is still looking for private partners to finance the works.

Brasília: works were scheduled to start in April; however, a case of corruption came out, and the ex-Governor was impeached and is under arrest. Political indefinition will probably cause delays.

Cuiabá: works scheduled to start on March 23rd.

Curitiba: Atlético Paranaense, owner of the stadium Arena da Baixada, estimates that they will need R$ 80 million to adapt the stadium to FIFA demands; now, they are looking for the money.

Fortaleza: works scheduled to April. The bidding process was started in December 2009, contractor to be known late March.

Manaus: Prosecutors required changes in the bidding process; works are scheduled to start in April.

Natal: bidding process to start in April; works to start in June.

Porto Alegre: Internacional, owner of Beira-Rio, claims that some internal refurbishments were already started; however, nothing in the structure was changed. Internacional is claiming tax exemptions to buy construction material to refurbish the stadium.

Recife: works to start in May. According to the local committee, delays were caused by late changes in the project to adapt it to environmental laws.

Rio de Janeiro: the local committee says that sub-soil studies have started on March 1st; clearly, a cosmetic measure to pretend to comply with FIFA deadlines. The bidding for the major works will be launched in April.

Salvador: the bidding process is finished, the contractor is defined, but the Goverment still need money and environment licenses to start the works.

São Paulo: probably (and suprisingly), Morumbi is the stadium with most problems. Neither Sao Paulo FC (owner of the stadium) nor the Governments want to spend money with the stadium. Some changes were made to the project which had been originally approved, but FIFA didn’t like the changes; FIFA President Joseph Blatter said that “Morumbi doesn’t meet the FIFA requirements to stage the opening match of the World Cup 2014“.

Below, a brief description of all 12 stadia of the World Cup 2014.

Stadia are ordered by capacity, for this is a major criterium used by FIFA to decide where the most important matches (such as opening, quarter finals, semi finals and final matches) will be staged.

On June 1st 2009, FIFA announced the twelve host cities of the World Cup 2014 in Brazil.

There was a big expectation about those host cities. These cities will benefit in several aspects from the World Cup, such as investments in infrastructure and massive international marketing.

Some of the cities knew that they would be a host. Rio de Janeiro is the best known city in Brazil (Maracanã is already defined as stage of the final match); Sao Paulo is the richest city in Brazil; Brasilia, the capital of the country (Sao Paulo and Brasilia are still fighting to host the opening match of the Cup); Salvador, Recife, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and Porto Alegre are important economic and cultural regional hubs of Brazil.

So, this makes eight cities with a guaranteed spot. It was of interest of the Brazilian Government and CBF that cities representatives of all regions in Brazil were chosen, so as to show to the world the rich variety of Brazilian culture and scenarios. The other four cities were chosen according to these criterium.

So, in the Northeast of Brazil, the region where the sun shines all year long, the cities of Natal and Fortaleza were chosen. These cities are rather small, but are popular destinations for Brazilian tourists; the well developed tourist infrastructure (hotels, airports, etc) was a big advantage of these cities.

There had to be a host in the Amazon, a region of Brazil which attracts world attention. Rio Branco was a candidate, but, too far into the jungle and with poor infrastructure, had no chances; Manaus and Belém were the stronger candidates. Belém had the advantage of being nearer the rest of Brazil and the rest of the world. Manaus won, thanks to a stronger political influence and probably because it is located deeper into the Amazon (an eco-tourism network, albeit incipient, is better developed in Manaus than in Belém).

Likewise, there should be a host in Pantanal, the Brazilian wetlands, one of the richest ecosystems in the World; Cuiaba and Campo Grande were the candidates.  Campo Grande is located right in the middle of Pantanal, and was favorite to win; however, thanks to a better project, Cuiabá was chosen.

Besides Belém and Campo Grande, other Brazilian cities were candidates to host but were not chosen: Goiânia (despite having one of the most modern stadiums in Brazil, the Serra Dourada) was too close to Brasília, and CBF wanted to spread the hosts; Florianópolis is a mid sized city in the South, with a strong European heritage, and was surprisingly not chosen (Natal took the place of Florianópolis).

So, these cities were candidates to host, but didn’t make it: Campo Grande, Goiânia, Florianópolis, Rio Branco and Belém.

On May 31st 2009, FIFA announced the 12 host cities of the World cup 2014 in Brazil.

The cities are:

1) Rio de Janeiro. Stadium: Maracana. Rio Travel Guide.

2) São Paulo. Stadium: Morumbi. Biggest Brazilian city.

3) Belo Horizonte. Beautiful Horizon.

4) Salvador. Party everyday.

5) Curitiba. Stadium: Arena da Baixada.

6) Porto Alegre. Stadium: Beira-Rio. The coldest of the host cities.

7) Brasília. The capital of Brazil.
Cuiaba. World Cup in the Pantanal.

9) Recife. World Cup by the beach.

10) Fortaleza. Stadium: Castelão. World Cup by the beach.

11) Natal. Stadium: Arena das Dunas. World Cup by the beach.

12) Manaus. World Cup in the Amazon.