Road to 2014 World Cup: Brazil

It's official.

Football's world governing body FIFA announced today that Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup, the second time the five-time winner of the tournament will host the event.

Brazil were the only country bidding to host the finals, but their delegation went through the formality of making a 30-minute presentation to the world governing body's executive committee in Zurich earlier today, before being officially awarded the finals.

"The task was not easy - for us it was a real big challenge to have the same list of requirements and the same conditions for only one candidate than if we had two and perhaps we put the bar higher than if we had two," said FIFA President Sepp Blatter (above, showing the world the 2014 Cup hosts).

"There was an extraordinary presentation by the delegation and we witnessed that this World Cup will have such a big social and cultural impact in Brazil.

"This the country that has given to the world the best football and the best footballers, five times world champions, and if we don't stop the invasion of Brazilian footballers then in years to come we may have only Brazilians in all the national teams! That's why the executive committee has decided unanimously to give the right and the responsibility to organize the 2014 World Cup to Brazil."

Brazil now face the daunting task of building or completely refurbishing every single one of their stadium for the tournament. FIFA's inspection report has identified 18 grounds with more than 40,000 capacity that could host matches and these will be whittled down to nine or 10. However, of the 18 four would have to be built from scratch and all of the other 14 undergo substantial renovation.

FIFA inspectors said the Brazilian football federation had estimated £550m as the budget for building and renewing the grounds but that figure appears very optimistic. So basic are the facilities at the moment that most of the stadia are not even equipped for television commentary.

FIFA's inspection report noted that Brazil was "more than capable of hosting an exceptional World Cup", but added, "surprisingly, most of the stadiums are not equipped for TV commentators. In fact, many of them will use TV commentary positions for the first time thanks to the projects and the necessary FIFA requirements for staging a World Cup."

The inspectors said FIFA must maintain close links with the Brazilian organizers - and start immediately. "Brazil has a rich history of hosting sporting and other international events," added the report, "but the standards and demands of the World Cup will far surpass those of any other event staged in the history of Brazil in terms of magnitude and complexity.

"The inspection team is of the opinion that it would be important for FIFA experts to carefully review the process and progress of host city selection to ensure that adequate financing is committed and secured by the time of the deadline for the selection of the host cities and the related stadium facilities or potential stadium construction sites."

Brazil last hosted the World Cup in 1950, which produced one of the greatest upsets in the history of the sport and a world record crowd, estimated at 199,000 for the deciding match which ended with Uruguay beating the hosts Brazil 2-1 in the Maracana Stadium on July 16 to lift the Jules Rimet trophy for the second time.

Good luck to Brazil. Should make for an exciting tournament.

Sad News: FIFA Ends Rotation Policy

Mark this under 'Sad News' in my eyes.

FIFA took the easy route to riches and ended their World Cup rotation policy, which rotated the hosting of World Cups through its six continental confederations.

The rotation policy allowed countries like South Africa (2010) and Brazil (2014) the opportunity to host the competition. Now what? Will we see European countries host the event every four years? When will countries like South Africa ever have the oppotunity to host the event again? Is the World Cup bidding process to become a jumbled mess like the Olympic Games process, which is full of scandal and controversy? Sad news. Pathetic, really.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter (above, right) added that a final decision on the hosting of the 2018 event would likely be taken in 2011, with prospective bidders probably needing to signal their interest by 2009.

He said that FIFA had already learned of six possible bids.
"Besides England, there is at least one combined offer from the Netherlands and Belgium," Blatter said. "There has also been interest announced from China, Australia, Mexico and the United States."

Monday's decision opens the bidding for future World Cups up to any national association, providing they do not belong to a confederation that has hosted any of the two preceding editions.

Blatter said there would be no restriction on multiple applicants from the same continental confederation.
"We haven't done that because it is the national associations who are the bidders and they all have the right to bid," he explained.

"But definitely if there are 10 or 11 bids then we would have to make a pre-selection like they do with the Olympics."

FIFA's change of heart means that the 2018 World Cup will be open to bids from all countries except those in Africa and South America.

South Africa was the first beneficiary of the short-lived rotation policy and is set to stage the next edition of the World Cup in 2010.

Brazil is the only candidate bidding to stage the 2014 World Cup in South America and is due to have its host status rubber-stamped by the executive committee on Tuesday.

Blatter said Brazil's sole candidature had been part of his own reasons for wanting to scrap the rotation policy.
"Brazil is a very strong candidate indeed but there was something missing from its bid," Blatter said.

"The bid is beautiful, it has all the necessary guarantees and the backing of the country's governors. But competition was lacking, and football is about competition."
Brazil have won the World Cup a record five times but have only hosted the tournament once before, in 1950.