Some opinions on Brazil's Cup

Below are some ideas on the way things might be approached in Brazil ahead of the football World Cup 2014…

- "World Class" Stadia should not be the top priority. To have facilities that are functional, within FIFA's guidelines, safe, reasonably priced and with future plans should be the focus. As opposed to trying to develop the world's best stadium. Brasil, as it is a little behind with most stadia in the country, is not the place for this kind of aim right now and there are many other things to worry about.

- Focus on security, security, security. It is no mystery that Brazil has some problems in this area, not just in the general population but in relation to football in particular. If there is any aspect that deserves full attention and an attempt to develop world's best practice, security is it. I would take the best of the best from recent games, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Germany 2006, and Beijing 2008 and try to develop a focused, specific security policy tailor made for Brazil. If anything goes wrong in this area it could easily be a deal breaker for the event, ruining all the other work, therefore the country must get this right. Things to take into account are crowd control particularly getting to and from stadia, which can be in difficult areas, and police/security training in terms of dealing with foreigners, which in many parts of Brasil is not really up to scratch. To have an internationally well regarded police force would not be a bad thing for Brazil in the future, in all respects.

- Focus on strengths. Just as stadia are a weakness, there are many strengths to focus on for Brazil 2014, all of which could help define the event. The happiness and receptivity of the people is an obvious one and this will not be difficult. Efforts to improve the hospitality and tourism industry, particularly through language courses in English and Spanish, are spot on, and will improve an area of the country that is already high quality and loved by tourists. Technology is another, and attention should be paid to ensuring there is the capability to cater to the heavy workload and requirements during the games, plus use technology to maximum advantage - eg. this could be one part of the stadia refurbishments that should be a focus, as existing media, technology, security facilities along with corporate hospitality areas are regarded as poor. As Brazil is a world leader in internet usage and associated areas of technology, it should really try to make it a stand out aspect of the Cup.

- Transport simply has to improve and should be a major focus, not just for the Cup but in general; many of the cities are not up to scratch and will have problems during the event, but really need an overhaul for the future anyway - what better time than now??

- Accommodation is a bit of a problem but I say the market will work this aspect out, although in 2014 there may be some rich tourists and travelling fans being forced to stay in less than luxury accommodation to see their countries play. But, ultimately, many of the cities just can't sustain a bunch of new five star hotels and the best option will be squeezing everyone into the pousadas, sitos and whatever else there is - it's more the Brazilian style anyway, particularly in the smaller cities. And again, the market will work this out - if a foreigner can't book the package/room they desire then they will simply gave to figure something else out, or not go… either way, it's a problem that will not create any major waves beyond maybe having some matches with smaller crowds - but in a country of 200 million, I'm sure the locals will fill in the gaps.