While the 2014 World Cup requires the construction of three news stadia and nine major stadium refurbishments around Brazil by 2013, creating opportunities across a range of industries, a further benefit will be the improvement and development of many other non-2014 sport and stadia facilities throughout the country. Indeed, looking past the big, expensive and media-friendly projects for the 12 host stadia for 2014, there are a number of (sorely needed) developments under way.
Amongst others, Brazil’s southern-most state capital Porto Alegre will be home to a second top class venue by 2014, with the upgrade of Internacional’s Beira Rio Stadium, the official World Cup venue, to be matched by a brand new, 50,000 capacity arena developed by cross-town rival club Gremio (which has not yet given up hope of stealing the Cup hosting rights); Minas Gerais state capital Belo Horizonte will gain a significantly upgraded secondary stadium, with the Independencia venue to receive a major overhaul during 2010, moving from 10,000 to 25,000 capacity; Rio de Janeiro will obviously be the centre of major sport facility development over the coming years thanks to the 2014 Cup and 2016 Olympics double-whammy; while countless private football and sports clubs around Brazil are busy planning extensive facility upgrades and developments, either with views to hosting one of the 31 travelling World Cup squads during the 2014 tournament or simply to hitch a ride on the new wave of interest in sport in the country.
Such infrastructural development is more than overdue if Brazil is to ramp up its sport participation levels and international performances (beyond football and volleyball) over the coming years, as has been mooted in various circles and is suggested by the country’s move to host the world’s two biggest sporting events back-to-back. Although understandable given its recent history of social and economic problems, the plain fact is that most Brazilian cities have very little in the way of high quality sporting facilities and stadia, with the former generally restricted to expensive, private clubs and the latter consisting of just two or three large stadia per city (and all of which still require significant upgrading to reach current international standards).
Furthermore, as has been seen in many other major event host countries in recent years, the development of new sporting infrastructure can and should bring with it significant social, urban and environmental improvements, providing fresh opportunities for Brazil and its people.