Two major developments involving 2014 World Cup preparations have unfolded this week, each one reaffirming just how much work remains to be done in Brazil before the country is ready for the event.
There is now a very real chance that Sao Paulo, the biggest city in the southern hemisphere with a greater metropolitan area population of 20+ million, will host only a few minor qualifying matches following the Local Organising Committee’s decision to reject, after a series of modifications, the project to renovate Morumbi Stadium into a World Cup venue. The key issue was that the financing for the project was never guaranteed, a situation created by the fact that the stadium is privately owned by the Sao Paulo Football Club. Only two other of the 12 host stadia are privately owned, with the remaining nine venues state-owned and therefore eligible for all possible government financial assistance.
The judgement, handed down on Tuesday, means a new option will have to be determined in the very near future to ensure the city hosts any matches at all, while its chances of hosting the opening ceremony would appear to be dead in the water. Alternatives include the development of a brand new facility in the city’s north-western sector or the refurbishment of another of its range of existing stadia, none of which, however, appear suitable for the kind of amplification required to host the tournament’s opening or bigger, latter stage matches.
In a similar though less dramatic development, the city of Curitiba, in the southern Brazilian state of Paraná, may also change its hosting plans to overcome ongoing issues with the redevelopment of the Arena da Baixada facility, another privately owned venue. The latter´s owner, the Atlético Paranaense club, remains in a deadlock with the city council over spending on the facility, which has prompted rival club Coritiba to suggest an alternative project, utilising the existing state football federation-owned stadium and funded by the state and city governments, may be a better option. Despite the new option, the Arena da Baixada remains the official 2014 Cup stadium for the city according to the Local Organising Committee.