SAO PAULO — A stadium in Sao Paulo being built by Corinthians may host the opening game of the 2014 World Cup.
The Brazilian Football Confederation said in a statement released late Friday that its president Ricardo Teixeira, Sao Paulo state governor Alberto Goldman and Sao Paulo city mayor Gilberto Kassab discussed staging the opener at Corinthians' stadium.
The statement said Goldman and Kassab expressed their "willingness to provide all the support necessary to have the World Cup's opening game held in Sao Paulo."
Local media says Corinthians president Andres Sanchez is expected to make an official announcement next week during the commemorations of his team's 100th anniversary.
The new stadium has been designed with a 45,000-seat capacity, but Corinthians is extending it to 65,000 in order to comply with FIFA requirements. The new stadium is expected to be concluded by early 2013 at the latest.
Sao Paulo's huge Morumbi stadium was originally scheduled to host the opening game but was dropped from the World Cup because there were not enough financial guarantees for its renovation.
Posted By: Michael Anderson
Brazil is a country of vibrant colours and sounds. It is one of the biggest tourist attractions because of its beautiful beaches, its breathtaking landscapes and its fantastic music and dancing.
On the other hand, though, Brazil faces a lot of issues as well; prostitution is rife, child trafficking is a major issue, poverty is at high levels and there are numerous governmental hurdles to contend with. It seems that when the 2014 World Cup will be hosted in the country, a lot of infrastructure development will take place and a lot of money will be spent on revamping the major cities, but that will also bring with it the issue of the problems of the country increasing many folds. It is hoped that all these factors can be sorted out and a brilliant World Cup takes place.
The last time the World Cup was hosted in a developing country was in Mexico in 1986 and that showed just how beneficial a major event can be to the economy and people of a country. This year’s World Cup in South Africa had a similar effect on the country and its people. The increased tourism and economic benefits that were felt will help the country for many years to come. It is hoped that the same sort of effects will be felt in Brazil in four year’s time. However, the issue is that problems that currently plague the country will have to be addressed and not swept under the rug as so it often happens. It usually occurs that tourists get to see the beauty and revamped exterior of a country hosting the Cup but they fail to look at its rotting core.
At the moment, Brazil faces the major issue of revamping its stadiums for the upcoming tournament. They will have to spend a serious amount of money on upgrading the facilities if they are to be ready in time. The issue with upgrading is the fact that at the moment FIFA is not putting up the security money for the changes to be made. This will have to be sorted out between the organisers of the tournament and FIFA.
The biggest problem facing Brazil at the moment is one of child trafficking and prostitution. Prostitutes, in and around the big cities of Brazil, feel that they will be pushed even deeper underground than they already are today. With rising poverty levels and high inflation in the country, for the poor women of the slums sometimes prostitution is the only means of earning enough money to feed themselves once a day. What inadvertently will happen is that to clean up the streets, the organisers of the tournament and the government of Brazil will try to make the cities nice to look at for tourists. This will lead to serious human rights issues with prostitutes being neglected and poverty stricken.
Prostitution and child trafficking will sadly increase with an influx of tourists coming into the country for a major football tournament. The way it works in Brazil is that young women come to the big cities escaping poverty and end up in large cities such as Rio. Once there, they try to solicit or date foreign tourists who wine and dine them and if they are lucky, a marriage proposal follows and leads to a chance to leave Brazil for greener pastures in Europe. The problem with a large scale tournament taking place in the country is the fact that with an increased number of tourists, many who will be young men, prostitution will increase by a huge amount. Child trafficking to meet this extra demand of sex workers will also increase along with it because many people who like younger women will fuel the supply. It is a sad situation that the organisers and government will have to address, if they want to see a successful and prosperous tournament take place in four years time.
Hopefully, the next World Cup to take place will be just as interesting and successful as the one that happened this year in South Africa. If the issues that Brazil face can be worked out in time, people will be in for a real football treat.