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.

Trade Mission from Brazil to Australia

Brazil-Australia Sport & World Cup 2014 and Rio 2016 Business Mission

February 27-March 7, 2009

Locations: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane

Overview -

A series of presentation and networking event involving a range of key Australian sport administration, business and football bodies with a specific aim of presenting Australia's expertise with major event management and sport business in relation to the World Cup 2014 in Brazil, while also providing Brazilian attendees with a look at some of the best sporting facilities in the world. Given the wide range of requirements the 2014 World Cup and Rio 2016 Olympics will present, the trade mission delegation can incorporate people from a range of areas, although the main focus should be on having a solid group of Brazilian 2014 organising committee contacts who will be seeking ideas, capability and partners. A parallel focus will be on Australia's bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup and where Brazil might be able to assist.

Some areas of Australian expertise which Brazil will have to address -

* Stadium construction/refurbishments/overlay - all twelve stadia require major work; up to four to be built from scratch

* Master planning - timetabling, budgeting, marketing strategies

* Transport, accommodation and service infrastructure

* Major event security and risk management

* Specialist IT and telecommunications requirements

* Delivering an environmentally sustainable event

* Staffing, volunteers, training and operational readiness

* Urban improvements and parallel entertainment options

Key Australian groups -

* Australian International Sporting Events Secretariat (AISES)

* Business Club Australia

* Australian Sports Commission and Sport Minister

* Football Federation Australia

* NSW Department of State & Regional Development

* Industry Capability Network (ICN) - Victoria

* Queensland Government & Sport

* A-league teams

PROBABLE EVENTS:

Tour of Sydney Olympic Park and presentation

Presented by:

NSW Department of State & Regional Development "Readying a city for the Olympic Games"

Australian International Sporting Events Secretariat (AISES) "Australia's expertise with major sporting events"

Sydney Olympic Park Authority

Tour of Melbourne sport precinct and presentation

Presented by:

Victorian Industry Capability Network "Melbourne - The world's 'Ultimate Sport City'"

Australian International Sporting Events Secretariat (AISES) "Australia's expertise with major sporting events"

Melbourne Cricket Ground Trust

Tour of Suncorp Stadium and presentation

Presented by:

- Business Club Australia "Doing business at sporting and major events"

- Australian Sports Commission and Sport Minister "Sport in Australia and links with Brazil"

- Football Federation Australia "Football in Australia and our bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup"

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT SIMON TARMO AT simon@sponsorshipnews.com.au

The Cup half full in Brazil

After almost two years of relative inaction Brazil is finally waking up to the fact that it will be hosting one of the world's biggest events in five years time. Although it was selected as the host of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in mid 2007, only in recent months have the first rumblings of Cup-focused planning and development really begun.

At the end of May FIFA will announce the 12 Brazilian cities that will host 64 matches over two months in June and July 2014. This selection process has been the driver of a wave of activity from state governments and city councils around the country all trying to prove their credentials and secure one of the coveted positions. This in turn has aroused significant concerns about just how much work will be required to get Brazil ready for the event, across the wide range of sectors that will play their part.

In terms of Brazil's sport and major event technology, the 2014 Cup should create a veritable revolution. To begin with, just about every potential host stadium around the country, even those in the big cities of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte, are still well short of the standards required by FIFA. All of the existing stadia to be used will therefore be undergoing major refurbishment and remodelling over the coming years, while up to four new facilities will be built from scratch. A key part of this upgrading process will involve stadium technology, with much of the infrastructure demanded by modern football and sport simply not currently available in Brazilian facilities.

The improvements will need to be as wide ranging as they are drastic, incorporating comprehensive communications systems catering for operational, promotional, entertainment, media and on-field requirements, new business and corporate hospitality facilities, accessibility and safety provisions and, last but certainly not least, security.

The latter is considered one of the most important areas to be addressed for Brazil 2014 and the powers that be are acting. In March the Brazilian government launched a new project aimed at significantly raising the bar on spectator security at football matches in preparation for the Cup. The 'Torcida Legal' (literally 'legal supporter') project has as one of its central features the installation of sophisticated crowd monitoring and security technology in all stadia in Brazil with a capacity of more than 10,000 spectators. The project sets tough minimum standards covering the control of access to stadia, the amount of video cameras and monitors throughout the facility and the establishment of fully-equipped security centres. The requirements will come into effect for the beginning of the 2010 Brazilian domestic football season with a view to ironing out all kinks well in time for the 2013 Confederations Cup, one year before the main event.

Another important factor in Brazil's preparation for the Cup involves the ongoing use of stadia. A small controversy continues to unfold in the country surrounding a recent statement by FIFA's marketing department discouraging the use of stadia with athletics tracks separating the crowd from the field of play, a comment that has raised the ire of Brazilian athletics officials while also highlighting the important issue concerning the ongoing utility of modern day stadia. Although there may be little choice in some cases, it will be interesting to see if the FIFA pressure translates into either design modifications allowing for moveable seating and stadia reconfiguration or the removal of athletic tracks entirely.

Just which groups will steer the modernisation process the 2014 host stadia will require largely remains to be seen. Sinaenco, Brazil's national association of architectural and consulting engineering companies, affirmed recently that Brazilian groups have sufficient expertise, knowledge and experience to develop and manage projects for the Cup across all relevant areas of infrastructure. While this may be true to some extent, the combination of a relatively short timeframe, 12 separate locations and a long list of requirements spanning many different sectors presents a major challenge that will rapidly escalate in magnitude if any hiccups are encountered along the way. Considering again the afore-mentioned fact that not one single stadium in Brazil currently meets the standards imposed by FIFA to host World Cup matches, it would appear that significant international involvement will be required, particularly when it comes to the likes of specialised technology and major event know-how.

One group that will almost certainly play a part is FIFA's official technology sponsor for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, Satyam. At present, the Indian company has only a small presence in Brazil and with the group's recent activities clouded by a series of controversies and the shock resignation and jailing of founder and chairman Ramalinga Raju there have been few hints as to just how it will handle Brazil 2014. Satyam has significantly ramped up its involvement and presence in the South African market ahead of the 2010 Cup, however one major issue in Brazil is the language barrier, which the company has already cited as being a problem when it first entered the market in 2004. In South Africa, Satyam is playing a crucial role in developing the core IT event management system for FIFA and its service partner for IT, accommodation and hospitality - MATCH AG, while the company is also working closely with the local organising committee. The question is whether this level of involvement will be repeated for Brazil 2014, and just who will fill in the gaps if not.

While it is easy to raise doubts about and cast aspersions at any country preparing to host an event as big and prestigious as the FIFA World Cup, something that cannot be questioned is Brazil's strong desire, and indeed major potential, to make 2014 a grand success. Come May 31, when FIFA names the 12 Brazilian cites to host 2014 matches, the real test of just how to make that happen will begin.