In a noteworthy development for Australian businesses offering specialist stadium services and products, an all-Brazilian consortium has just been appointed for the overhaul and future management of one of the 2014 World Cup’s key facilities, the Mineirão stadium in Belo Horizonte.
The tender winner of the third, final and most significant stage of the refurbishment works, currently budgeted at R$654.4 million, is the three-part consortium consisting of Sao Paulo-based Construcap Industry & Commerce and Belo Horizonte´s Egesa Engineering and Hap Engineering. Beyond the remainder of the renovation project, the new entity is also responsible for management of the facility, under a shared model incorporating certain inputs from both the state and the city´s three main football clubs, for a 27 year period.
The current lack of an international partner bringing proven technology and experience to the project throws open the possibility of future such partnerships as the more complex aspects of works unfold.
A strong candidate for the opening match, particularly given Sao Paulo´s ongoing troubles and increasingly tight time frame, Mineirão is considered one of Brazil´s most famous and historically significant stadia, having also hosted matches during the 1950 World Cup.
Belo Horizonte is also home to the strongest concentration of Australian ex-pats in Brazil thanks mainly to the city´s mining heritage.