-President Brazilian Football Confederation
President of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) Ricardo Terra Teixeira said yesterday that hosting the World Cup competition in 2014 will be a tall order and that his country would have to pass several tests along the way.
“It’s going to be a tall order, I compare it to completing university entrance exams – now we have five years to get our diploma and we will have to pass many exams. There is a lot to do and it’s an enormous responsibility for us, for Brazil and for FIFA,” Teixeira said at the Convention Centre of the Atlantis Hotel yesterday.
FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke agreed.
“At the moment not a single stadium in Brazil is ready to host World Cup Games, including Rio de Janerio,” he told the media following the press conference.
Nonetheless there is a huge air of expectancy as the competition returns to Brazil for the first time since 1950 when Uruguay beat the hosts in the final.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter pointed to huge interest in the tournament returning to Brazil and the subsequent selection of the host cities.
“The interest was huge, I would like to say that FIFA initially wanted 10 cities, but after the intervention of Ricardo Terra Teixeira we agreed to expand it to 12. We had a decision to make about the Amazonas region and we decided on Manaus. We couldn’t have 17 cities, so five were out. But we will have other activities such as ceremonies, conferences, referees meetings and workshops – we will try to have all the cities in the bidding process having a little part of the big cake of the World Cup.
We didn’t listen to political interventions; we want a sporting success and concentrated on these grounds.”
He added, “I remember the last time Brazil hosted a World Cup – in 1950. I was following the Switzerland team who drew 2-2 with Brazil.
In the meantime, Brazil has been World Champion five times, so it’s a must that the tournament comes back to Brazil, but it can’t be in all 17 cities.”
And, despite the mountain of work that remains to be done, Blatter gave a vote of confidence to the South American country and its peoples.
“Brazil will show to the world that not only does it have good players but it has good organizers. We trust you.”
And, Valcke responding to a question about what FIFA hoped to achieve at the tournament in Brazil gushed, “You are in the country of football; you are in the country which has won the most World Cups; you are in one of the most beautiful continents in the world; you are in a country where the people are crazy about football… what you want to do is just have a unique time and that’s what we’ve been working on with the LOC as we had a unique time in South Africa.
“Again, each World Cup is a different World Cup. It has to be the best World Cup organized the way how World Cups are organized. Brazil is very special and we know all of that so we just want to make sure.”
