The Clock is Racing in Brazil

The World Cup draw was expected to be a celebration of the football world turning its attention to Brazil next year, but it appears to have in fact highlighted deficiencies in Brazil’s preparations.

Whenever there is a massive event such as the World Cup or the Olympic Games there are alarmists who claim the venues will not ready in time. At the Athens Olympics this very nearly was the case with some facilities only being finished hours before the opening ceremony.

The World Cup Organisers in Brazil have admitted that all six of the new stadia under construction, including the venue for the opening game in Sao Paolo, are behind schedule and will not meet FIFA’s deadlines.

However there are even bigger doubts that venues, transport and accommodation required for the 2016 Olympic Games can in fact be finished in time. Public demonstrations on the cost of staging two global events so close to each other have not helped. Justifiably the people of Brazil would prefer to see the money spent in areas that will help the nation and its people.

The site for the proposed Olympic Park is still just an expanse of mud, many journalists have revealed after being requested to check things out while in Brazil for the World Cup draw.

Another venue, the Diodorus Sports Complex which is to host nine sports is 15 months being schedule. This is said to have been due to political indecision, corruption and bureaucracy.

Many in Brazil have questioned ever since the World Cup and the Olympic Games were awarded to their country as to whether they have the wherewithal to pull it off, now concerns are beginning to become greater.

Of course this is nothing new, the very first World Cup in 1930 saw the showpiece Stadio Centenario which was supposed to host all World Cup matches not ready on time. Heavy rains in Montevideo prevented the end of the construction of the stadium, which meant that several matches had to be played in the Pocitos Stadium of Club Atlético Peñarol, and the Parque Central home to arch rival Club Nacional de Football.

FIFA Drawn into Racism Row

The draw for the 2014 World cup finals are due to take place in four days time and the game’s governing body finds itself embroiled in another unwanted situation. A Sao Paulo prosecutor has opened an investigation into possible racism by FIFA.

The Sao Paulo state prosecutor has asked FIFA along with the company it hired to organise Friday’s draw to explain why two white-skinned actors were chosen to present the televised show instead of two black-skinned actors.

Apparently two Afro-Brazilians had been put forward as possible hosts but they were overlooked in favour of a light-skinned model called Fernanda Lima and her husband Rodrigo Hilbert, who is a TV presenter. News magazine Veja has reported this to be the case but it has not revealed how it gained information that this is the case.

Prosecutor Christiano Jorge Santos has claimed he asked Fifa, GEO Eventos, Veja and TV Globo,  the broadcaster reported to put forward the well known soap opera actors Lazaro Ramos and Camila Pitanga, for more information about their choice.

“I opened the investigation due to the suspicion of a crime of racism on the part of Fifa, or by the company they selected to organise the show, GEO Eventos,” he told Reuters.  adding that, if the report is true, he will seek to open criminal proceedings.

Santos has said that if the report is true then he will seek criminal proceedings. It is felt that Fernanda Lima and husband Rodrigo Hilbert do not represent Brazil’s racial mix, “and so the change was not justified,” Santos said.