Brazil is Heating up For The World Cup

There’s nothing quite like a plan coming together perfectly at the last minute. That’s what Brazil is counting on anyway. 

With fifty days left until the start of the World Cup Tournament Jeroke Valcke, FIFA’s Secretary General, announced that some of Brazil’s preparations—namely Sao Paulo’s football stadium—wouldn’t be ready “until the last minute.” In fact, as of the publication of this article, there are three stadiums yet to be completed.  

That being said, there are investments and accomplishments in which Brazil is guaranteeing to make this a World Cup to remember. The following are ways in which Brazil is not waiting “until the last minute” to ensure the best outcome for everyone.

Security

With any major international gathering, security is always a concern. You may or may not remember the security fiasco for the last Summer Olympics in London. (The private security firm that won the contract, then couldn’t hire enough guards to adequately provide security.) While there are certain to be a few muggings of football fans and journalists, Brazilian officials are not expecting any major incidents. Furthermore, the Brazilian government has pledged $900 million to be invested into security forces. They have given their word that this World Cup Tournament will be "one of the most protected sports events in history". FIFA Secretary Valcke promises "the highest level of security you can imagine.”

Special considerations have been made for the tournament including plans to have one police officer for every 50 people attending matches and the installation of facial recognition systems.

Infrastructure

In the costliest World Cup of all time, Brazil's federal government estimated that hosting the tournament would require $11 billion of funding. As Brazil is hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics, this gives them an opportunity to use two major events to cover the cost of improving Brazil’s infrastructure. An example of this is the $5 billion being invested for the construction of hotels in Rio de Janeiro. As the city will host the Olympics and the final games of the World Cup, it must occupy millions of visitors than would usually be present in the city.

Another major infrastructure obstacle is Brazil’s airports, the most concerning being the Recife International Airport in Recife. Brazil’s organizing committee has deemed airports as "the big problem" of the 2014 World Cup Tournament. An estimated 600,000 people will travel internationally, by plane, in addition to three million Brazilians using flight to travel between matches.

Fan Consumption and Engagement 

As we enter the weeks before the first kickoff, hardcore fans are already getting amped up for the matches to come. They’ve planned what matches to see, in which cities, and they’ve figured out which television stations to set their DVRs to. If you haven’t yet, check out the fixtures for the World Cup 2014 matches so don’t fall behind. Host Broadcast Services, the company in charge of hosting the games, will be using only the best in recording equipment: 224 Sony HDC camera chains, 64 super slow-motion camera chains, 36 Sony switchers and 820 Sony Professional monitors. It’s with this technology, and the two-hundred and eighty technical staff members hired, that Host Broadcast Services will bring 2,500 hours of soccer content to sports fans around the world.

At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, FIFA hosted its first set of FIFA Fan Fests. The FIFA Fan Fests are public gatherings, organized by FIFA, that allow thousands of fans (without tickets) to gather together to enjoy the festivities. It has been so successful that they are continuing the tradition, hosting FIFA Fan Fests in all twelve of Brazil’s host cities.

Between the airports and the stadiums, many question whether or not Brazil will be ready in time…

Right now, your guess is as good as mine.

Images by Jairo BD, Eneas De Troya, Diego Torres Silvestre and Hanumann used under Creative Commons License.

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And now we ask you - Will you be watching this year's world cup?