World Cup: Brazil to learn from SA
9 July 2010
South Africa's successful hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup will help Brazil identify the requirements of hosting a modern-day Fifa World Cup, visiting soccer bosses from the South American country said on Thursday.
Brazil is hosting the 2014 Fifa World Cup, having last staged the world's biggest single-code sporting event more than 60 years ago.
A top Brazilian soccer delegation, led by that country's local organising committee chief, Ricardo Teixeira, has been in the country since the start of the World Cup not only to watch the tournament but to learn how South Africa managed to silence its critics in staging Africa's first World Cup.
"We have been here long enough to monitor everything that we can and should learn from South Africa, whether negative or positive; we will use that to ensure that Brazil stages the best World Cup ever," Teixeira said during a press conference in Johannesburg on Thursday.
"We are not saying people should judge us by what South Africa has been able or unable to deliver – but what we are saying is, we are here to learn and ensure that we use every lesson to our advantage."
He revealed that the Brazilian government had sent a team of security experts to South Africa during the World Cup to do a security analysis on how the country was handling security threats to the event.
There has not been any World Cup tournament organised in the South American continent since 1994, and Brazil is hoping to pull out all stops for 2014. The country will be organising three major events in the next few years, starting with the World Cup, the America Cup in 2015, and the Olympic Games in 2016.
Former Brazilian international footballer Romario was confident that the people of Brazil were ready to put together a memorable tournament after South Africa. "The people of Brazil are ready ... and we are very hopeful and extremely happy and we will show to the world what Brazil is really made of."
Former Bafana Bafana Coach Alberto Parreira, who won a World Cup for Brazil, was full of support for his native country. "Having seen everything that has been done in South Africa in the four years before the tournament, I have no doubt that with the same commitment Brazil can also deliver a good World Cup.
"I have been here, and people never believed this country could do it, and today there isn't one foreigner here who has any doubt that this was a good World Cup," Parreira said.
Teixeira acknowledged, however that not all was well with the Brazilian preparations, saying construction in some stadiums had stalled due to lack of funding. "In terms of Sao Paulo, we are having doubts because the stadium is facing some financial challenges.
"Relatively speaking, everything is on schedule despite a few challenges, progress in some stadiums is well advanced than in others. We now have to come up with a plan to see how Sao Paulo as a host city can participate in the World Cup should they not have a stadium," he said.
He added that there were doubts about Curitiba as a host city, but that no conclusions had been made on the matter. "As soon as we arrive back in Brazil, we need to discuss those matters and see which city is still struggling to organize."
Source: BuaNews
