What Brazil can learn from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa

Portuguese Translation of the Week

FIFA President Joseph Blatter was harshly criticized by Brazilians when he said that Brazil was the most delayed host nation he had ever seen.

O presidente da Fifa, Joseph Blatter, foi duramente criticado pelos brasileiros ao dizer que o Brasil era o país-sede da Copa mais atrasado que já tinha visto.

This article has been translated from Portuguese. Click here to read the original version on Exame.

Soon after, he backtracked and said he was certain the event in June would be a success. Despite the criticism, Blatter was right regarding the delay.

In January 2010, 60 percent of the stadiums were fully constructed in South Africa. These were six of the ten arenas – The World Cup began on June 11th of that same year.

In Brazil, only seven of the twelve arenas are ready, a total of 58 percent.

Former host nations like Germany and Japan also had a completion level well above 58 percent in the same time frame.

But beyond the stadium issue, has Brazil had or will it face the many problems that South Africa did?

After 1986, when the World Cup took place in Mexico, all host nations were rich and developed countries: Italy, the U.S., France, South Korea, Japan and Germany.

South Africa was the exception after twenty-four years. Thus, it was expected that a developing country on a tight budget would have some mishaps along the way.

By taking a look at the problems faced by South Africa and the legacy of the games, perhaps there is time to change something – for the better – in the next six months.

Problems

Here are some of the problems faced in South Africa, and what has happened in Brazil.

Budget

In South Africa, five billion dollars were spent, including on stadiums and infrastructure.

In Brazil, the promise was that zero percent of public money would be used for the event. Now, more than 90 percent of what has been spent is accounted for through public money. In addition, the final budget underwent the "multiplication miracle".

Spending on stadiums reached 8 billion Reais, surpassing spending on infrastructure and mobility (7 billion Reais). The initial forecast, in 2007, was of 1.9 billion Reais.

Stadiums

In South Africa, six months before the World Cup, 6 of the 10 stadiums were ready. All were successfully delivered before June.

In Brazil, 7 of the 12 are ready. Despite the apprehension, they should be ready on time.

Workforce

During the construction of the stadiums in South Africa, there were several workers strikes, both by those who were building the stadiums and those who were working on the construction and renovation of roads, airports, and hospital.

On the eve of the World Cup, there were protests carried out by miners, construction workers, and immigrants. Protests coming from civil society called for more housing, education, and health.

In Brazil, an accident with a scaffold killed two people during the construction of the Corinthians stadium in Itaquera, stage of the World Cup opening. Two other workers were killed at the construction site of Arena Manaus and at a stadium in Brasilia.

Security

In 2008, right before the 2010 World Cup, South Africa had very high crime rate. Murder rates were at 28.6 per 100 thousand people. In robberies, the numbers were 247 per 100 thousand people.

Once the games began, security workers went on strike, forcing the police to take over. There were also many instances of robbery and theft – the Spanish national team players were robbed at the hotel.

In Brazil, the numbers are equally alarming. 24.3 murders per 100 thousand people (lower than in South Africa) and 572.7 robberies per 100 thousand people (higher than in South Africa).

Musical Instruments

The vuvuzela (plastic trumpet) was the start of the stands, but its ubiquitous noise angered players and broadcasters. Despite the criticism, it was not prohibited.

In Brazil, before the Confederations Cup, the Caxirola (A plastic rattle created by musician Carlinhos Brown) was vetoed.

Legacy

What remained after hurricane FIFA swept by South Africa:

Stadiums

Many of the stadiums built in 2010 remained unused after the World Cup, becoming infamous "White elephants".

Such was the case of the beautiful stadium in Cape Town and the arenas in Port Elizabeth and Polokwane.

In Brazil, there are studies showing that it is most likely that 4 of the 12 stadiums will become "White elephants" after July 2014. This is according to the Danish Institute for the Study of Sports.

This would be the case of the stadiums in Brasilia, Manaus, Cuiabá, and Natal – cities that do not have strong soccer teams.

Impact

About 5 billion dollars were invested in arenas and infrastructure in 2010.

However, only one tenth of this was recovered through tourism and commerce: approximately 525 million dollars – below what was initially expected: 952 million.

In addition, 450 thousand tourists were expected – but only 309 thousand showed up.

Article translated by Anna Cardenas, Staff Intern for the Brazil Institute at the Wilson Center.

Photo courtesy of Agencia Brasil via Wikimedia Commons.