2014 FIFA World Cup

Copa do Mundo da FIFA Brasil 2014
160px 2014 FIFA World Cup logo
Tournament details
Host country	Brazil
Dates	12 June – 13 July (32 days)
Teams	32 (from 5 or 6 confederations)
Venue(s)	12 (in 12 host cities)
← 2010 2018 →

The 2014 FIFA World Cup will be the 20th FIFA World Cup, an international association football tournament that will take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014.^[1]

This will be the second time the country has hosted the competition, the first being the 1950 FIFA World Cup. Brazil will become the fifth country to have hosted the FIFA World Cup twice, after Mexico, Italy, France and Germany. It will be the first World Cup to be held in South America since the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, the first time two consecutive World Cups are staged outside Europe and the first time two consecutive World Cups are staged in the Southern Hemisphere (the 2010 FIFA World Cup was held in South Africa).

Host selection[link]

Sepp Blatter and the Brazilian victory.

On 7 March 2003, FIFA announced that the tournament would be held in South America for the first time since Argentina hosted the competition in 1978, in line with its policy of rotating the right to host the World Cup amongst different confederations. On 3 June 2003, the South American Football Confederation CONMEBOL announced that Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia wanted to host the 2014 World Cup finals.^[2]

By 17 March 2004, the CONMEBOL associations had voted unanimously to adopt Brazil as their sole candidate.^[3]

Brazil formally declared its candidacy in December 2006 and Colombia followed a few days later. The Argentina bid never materialized. On 11 April 2007, Colombia officially withdrew its bid, Francisco Santos Calderón the vice president of Colombia announced that instead Colombia would be hosting the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. With this development, Brazil became the only official candidate to host the 2014 event.^[4]

Brazil won the right to host the event on 30 October 2007 as the only country to enter the bidding process.^[5]

Qualification[link]

The allocation of places for the final tournament was decided on 3 March 2011, with the distribution of the 31 places determined through the qualification process unchanged from that for the 2010 World Cup.^[6]

The qualification draw for the 2014 World Cup was held at the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro on 30 July 2011.^[7] As the host nation, Brazil automatically qualifies for the tournament.

Qualified teams[link]

Team	Order of qualification	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Consecutive World Cups	Last appearance	Previous best performance	FIFA Ranking at start of event
Brazil	1st	Host	30 Oct 2007	20th	20	2010	Winner (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)

Europe (UEFA)[link]

  Country qualified

  Country may qualify

  Cannot qualify – games to play

  Country failed to qualify

  Country did not enter World Cup

  Country is not a FIFA member

(53 teams competing for 13 berths)

South America (CONMEBOL)[link]

(9 teams competing for 4 or 5 berths, playoff to determine exact number)

CONMEBOL will have 4 or 5 berths through qualification, with the top four teams in the group qualifying directly to the finals. The fifth place team from the group will play Asia's 5th place team in a home-and-away series to determine who will qualify.

In addition, Brazil automatically qualifies for the finals as host.

Africa (CAF)[link]

(52 teams competing for 5 berths)

Asia (AFC)[link]

(43 teams competing for 4 or 5 berths, playoff to determine exact number)

North, Central American and the Caribbean (CONCACAF)[link]

(35 teams competing for 3 or 4 berths, with playoff to determine exact number) There are 3 certain berths that would be allocated to the first 3 places in the final group. The 4th place team in the final group will play Oceania's winner in a home and away series to determine who will qualify for the finals.

Oceania (OFC)[link]

(11 teams competing for 0 or 1 berth, playoff to determine exact number) The winner of OFC will play the 4th team from CONCACAF in a home and away series.

Venues[link]

Dilma Rouseff (2^nd from the right) and Pelé (center) following the works in Belo Horizonte.

Seventeen cities showed interest in being chosen as World Cup host cities: Belém, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Campo Grande, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Goiânia, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Olinda (a stadium would be shared by both cities), Rio Branco, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and São Paulo.^[8] Maceió withdrew in January 2009.

According to current FIFA practice, no more than one city may use two stadiums, and the number of host cities is limited between eight and ten. The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) requested permission to assign 12 cities hosting World Cup Finals.^[9] On 26 December 2008, FIFA gave the green light to the 12-city plan.^[10]

Even before the 12 host cities were selected, there were few doubts that the chosen venue for the final match will be the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, which also hosted the decisive match of the 1950 FIFA World Cup. Originally the CBF's intentions were to have the opening match at Estádio do Morumbi in São Paulo, the largest city in Brazil. However, on 14 June 2010 the stadium was excluded from hosting games in the tournament due to a failure to provide financial guarantees for the improvements needed to have it as an eligible venue.^[11] At the end of August 2010, the CBF announced that the new Corinthians Stadium would host the matches in São Paulo.

The 12 host cities for the 2014 World Cup were announced on 31 May 2009.^[12] Belém, Campo Grande, Florianópolis, Goiânia and Rio Branco were rejected. Half of the chosen host cities will have their games in brand new venues built specifically for the World Cup, while the stadium for the capital Brasilia was demolished and will be rebuilt, and the remaining five are upgrading their current stadia.

Belo Horizonte	Brasília	Cuiabá	Curitiba
Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto (Mineirão)	Estádio Mané Garrincha (Estádio Nacional)	Arena Pantanal – Governador José Fragelli (Novo Verdão)	Estádio Joaquim Américo Guimarães (Arena da Baixada)
Capacity: 66,805 (upgraded)	Capacity: 71,412 (rebuilt)	Capacity: 42,968 (rebuilt)	Capacity: 40,000 (upgraded)
		200px
Fortaleza	Belo Horizonte Brasília Fortaleza Porto Alegre São Paulo Rio de Janeiro Salvador Natal Cuiabá Curitiba Manaus Recife		Manaus
Estádio Plácido Aderaldo Castelo (Castelão)			Arena Amazonia – Vivaldo Lima (Novo Vivaldão)
Capacity: 64,165 (upgraded)			Capacity: 43,710 (rebuilt)
Natal			Porto Alegre
Arena das Dunas – João Cláudio de Vasconcelos Machado (Novo Machadão)			Estádio José Pinheiro Borda (Beira-Rio)
Capacity: 42,001 (rebuilt)			Capacity: 50,287 (upgraded)
200px
Recife	Rio de Janeiro	Salvador	São Paulo
Arena Pernambuco	Estádio Mário Filho (Maracanã)	Arena Fonte Nova – Octávio Mangabeira	Arena Corinthians
Capacity: 43,921 (new stadium)	Capacity: 76,935 (upgraded)[13]	Capacity: 56,500 (rebuilt)	Capacity: 65,807 (new stadium)[14]

Group stage[link]

Arena Fonte Nova under construction in Salvador on February, 2011.

All times listed are Brasília official time (UTC−03)

The official match schedule, which is subject to change, was announced at FIFA's headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland on 20 October 2011.^[15]

Group A[link]

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Brazil	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
A4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

12 June 2014 17:00	Brazil	Match 1	A2	Arena Corinthians, São Paulo

13 June 2014	A3	Match 2	A4	Estádio das Dunas, Natal

17 June 2014	Brazil	Match 17	A3	Estádio Castelão, Fortaleza

18 June 2014	A2	Match 18	A4	Arena Amazônia, Manaus

23 June 2014	Brazil	Match 33	A4	Estádio Nacional, Brasília

23 June 2014	A2	Match 34	A3	Arena Pernambuco, Recife

Group B[link]

13 June 2014	B1	Match 3	B2	Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

13 June 2014	B3	Match 4	B4	Arena Pantanal, Cuiabá

18 June 2014	B1	Match 19	B3	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

18 June 2014	B2	Match 20	B4	Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre

23 June 2014	B1	Match 35	B4	Arena da Baixada, Curitiba

23 June 2014	B2	Match 36	B3	Arena Corinthians, São Paulo

Group C[link]

14 June 2014	C1	Match 5	C2	Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

14 June 2014	C3	Match 6	C4	Arena Pernambuco, Recife

19 June 2014	C1	Match 21	C3	Estádio Nacional, Brasília

19 June 2014	C2	Match 22	C4	Estádio das Dunas, Natal

24 June 2014	C1	Match 37	C4	Arena Pantanal, Cuiabá

24 June 2014	C2	Match 38	C3	Estádio Castelão, Fortaleza

Group D[link]

14 June 2014	D1	Match 7	D2	Estádio Castelão, Fortaleza

14 June 2014	D3	Match 8	D4	Arena Amazônia, Manaus

19 June 2014	D1	Match 23	D3	Arena Corinthians, São Paulo

20 June 2014	D2	Match 24	D4	Arena Pernambuco, Recife

24 June 2014	D1	Match 39	D4	Estádio das Dunas, Natal

24 June 2014	D2	Match 40	D3	Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

Group E[link]

15 June 2014	E1	Match 9	E2	Estádio Nacional, Brasília

15 June 2014	E3	Match 10	E4	Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre

20 June 2014	E1	Match 25	E3	Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

20 June 2014	E2	Match 26	E4	Arena da Baixada, Curitiba

25 June 2014	E1	Match 41	E4	Arena Amazônia, Manaus

25 June 2014	E2	Match 42	E3	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

Group F[link]

15 June 2014	F1	Match 11	F2	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

16 June 2014	F3	Match 12	F4	Arena da Baixada, Curitiba

21 June 2014	F1	Match 27	F3	Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

21 June 2014	F2	Match 28	F4	Arena Pantanal, Cuiabá

25 June 2014	F1	Match 43	F4	Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre

25 June 2014	F2	Match 44	F3	Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

Group G[link]

16 June 2014	G1	Match 13	G2	Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

16 June 2014	G3	Match 14	G4	Estádio das Dunas, Natal

21 June 2014	G1	Match 29	G3	Estádio Castelão, Fortaleza

22 June 2014	G2	Match 30	G4	Arena Amazônia, Manaus

26 June 2014	G1	Match 45	G4	Arena Pernambuco, Recife

26 June 2014	G2	Match 46	G3	Estádio Nacional, Brasília

Group H[link]

17 June 2014	H1	Match 15	H2	Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

17 June 2014	H3	Match 16	H4	Arena Pantanal, Cuiabá

22 June 2014	H1	Match 31	H3	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

22 June 2014	H2	Match 32	H4	Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre

26 June 2014	H1	Match 47	H4	Arena Corinthians, São Paulo

26 June 2014	H2	Match 48	H3	Arena da Baixada, Curitiba

Knockout phase[link]

Round of 16[link]

28 June 2014	Winner Group A	Match 49	Runner-up Group B	Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

28 June 2014	Winner Group C	Match 50	Runner-up Group D	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

29 June 2014	Winner Group B	Match 51	Runner-up Group A	Estádio Castelão, Fortaleza

29 June 2014	Winner Group D	Match 52	Runner-up Group C	Arena Pernambuco, Recife

30 June 2014	Winner Group E	Match 53	Runner-up Group F	Estádio Nacional, Brasília

30 June 2014	Winner Group G	Match 54	Runner-up Group H	Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre

1 July 2014	Winner Group F	Match 55	Runner-up Group E	Arena Corinthians, São Paulo

1 July 2014	Winner Group H	Match 56	Runner-up Group G	Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

Quarter-finals[link]

4 July 2014	Winner Match 49	Match 57	Winner Match 50	Estádio Castelão, Fortaleza

4 July 2014	Winner Match 53	Match 58	Winner Match 54	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

5 July 2014	Winner Match 51	Match 59	Winner Match 52	Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

5 July 2014	Winner Match 55	Match 60	Winner Match 56	Estádio Nacional, Brasília

Semi-finals[link]

8 July 2014 17:00	Winner Match 57	Match 61	Winner Match 58	Estádio Mineirão, Belo Horizonte

9 July 2014 17:00	Winner Match 59	Match 62	Winner Match 60	Arena Corinthians, São Paulo

Third place match[link]

12 July 2014 17:00	Loser Match 61	Match 63	Loser Match 62	Estádio Nacional, Brasília

Final[link]

13 July 2014 16:00	Winner Match 61	Match 64	Winner Match 62	Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

Logo[link]

The official Brazil 2014 logo.

The logo is called "Inspiration", and was created by Brazilian agency Africa. The design stems from an iconic photograph of three victorious hands together raising the world's most famous trophy. As well as depicting the humanitarian notion of hands interlinking, the portrayal of the hands is also symbolic of the yellow and green of Brazil warmly welcoming the world to their country. The logo was unveiled at a ceremony held in Johannesburg on 8 July 2010.^[16]

FIFA and the Brazil LOC invited 25 Brazilian-based agencies to submit designs for the Official Emblem of the 2014 tournament and the task of picking the winner was awarded to a high-profile seven-strong judging panel consisting of CBF chairman Ricardo Teixeira, FIFA executive secretary Jérôme Valcke, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, architect Oscar Niemeyer, writer Paulo Coelho, singer Ivete Sangalo, and designer Hans Donner.^[17]

Brazilian graphic designer Alexandre Wollner has criticized the design, suggesting it resembles a hand covering a face in shame, and the process through which it was chosen, having a jury that excluded professional graphic designers.^[18]

Infrastructure[link]

Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

Stadiums[link]

The CBF estimates that the cost of construction and remodeling of stadiums^[19] alone will be approximately over R$1.9 billion ($1.1 billion, £ 550 million).^[20] In addition to the stadium upgrades and renovations, there will be millions more spent on basic infrastructure needs to get the country ready.

When informed of the decision to host the tournament, CBF President Ricardo Teixeira said: "We are a civilized nation, a nation that is going through an excellent phase, and we have got everything prepared to receive adequately the honor to organize an excellent World Cup." Teixeira was on hand at FIFA's headquarters in Zürich when the announcement was made.

"Over the next few years we will have a consistent influx of investments. The 2014 World Cup will enable Brazil to have a modern infrastructure," Teixeira said. "In social terms will be very beneficial. Our objective is to make Brazil become more visible in global arenas," he added. "The World Cup goes far beyond a mere sporting event. It's going to be an interesting tool to promote social transformation."

Recife International Airport in Recife.

Airports[link]

On 31 August 2009 the state airport management agency Infraero unveiled a R$ 5.3 billion (approx. €3 billion, £ 2 billion) investment plan^[21] to upgrade airports of ten of the venue cities, increasing their capacity and comfort for the hundreds of thousands of tourists expected for the Cup. Natal and Salvador are excluded because their upgrade works have been recently completed. A significant amount (55.3%) of the money will be spent overhauling the airports of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The investment figure covers works to be carried out up to 2014.

The announcement by Infraero came in reply to criticism made by the Brazilian General Aviation Association, a grouping of private aircraft owners, that Brazil's airports currently could not cope with the World Cup inflow. The vice-president of the association, Adalberto Febeliano, told reporters that more than 500,000 football fans were expected, with each one taking between six and fourteen flights during the tournament to get to the games in various cities.^[22] In May 2010, the Government of Brazil changed the bidding legislation to allow more flexibility to Infraero.^[23]

Metro, Monorail, and Light rail[link]

Light rail in Brasília.

View of São Paulo Metro.

Internal view of São Paulo Metro.

• Porto Alegre

In 2012, the Porto Alegre International Airport will have a monorail line that connects the airport with Aeroporto metro station of Greater Porto Alegre Metro. That will connect the airport with downtown Porto Alegre and the stadium.^[24]

• São Paulo

In 2014, the São Paulo International Airport will have a metro line that connects the airport with downtown São Paulo and the stadium. The new line integrates the São Paulo Metro and Greater São Paulo Metro.^[25]

• Salvador

In 2014, the Salvador International Airport will have a metro line that connects the airport with downtown Salvador and the stadium. The new line integrates the Salvador Metro.^[26]

• Fortaleza

In 2014, the Fortaleza International Airport will have a metro line that connects the airport with downtown Fortaleza and the stadium. The new line integrates the Fortaleza Metro.^[27]

• Manaus

In 2014, the Manaus International Airport will have a monorail line that connects the airport with downtown Manaus and the stadium.^[28]

• Brasília

In 2014, the Brasília International Airport will have a light rail line that connects the airport with downtown Brasília and the stadium. The new line integrates the Brasília Metro.^[29]

• Cuiabá

In 2014, the Cuiabá International Airport will have a light rail line that connects the airport with downtown Cuiabá and the stadium.^[30]

• Natal

In 2014, the Natal International Airport will have a light rail line that connects the airport with downtown Natal and the stadium.^[31]

BRT[link]

BRT in Curitiba, the pioneer in the world.

• Belo Horizonte

In 2014, Belo Horizonte International Airport will have a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line that connects the airport with downtown Belo Horizonte and the stadium. The BRT system will integrates the Belo Horizonte Metro.

• Curitiba

In 2014, the Curitiba International Airport will have a BRT line that connects the airport with downtown Curitiba and the stadium. The future BRT line of International Airport will add to the Rede Integrada de Transporte of Curitiba, one of the largest BRT systems of the world.

• Recife

In 2014, the Recife International Airport will have a BRT line, that connects the airport with downtown Recife, metropolitan area, and the stadium. The BRT system will integrates the Recife Metro.

• Rio de Janeiro

In 2014, the Rio de Janeiro International Airport will have a BRT line that connects the airport with Barra da Tijuca, a neighborhood in the West Zone of the city, which is the headquarters of 2016 Olympic Games. This will connect the BRT station in Barra da Tijuca with the South Zone (Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, etc.), the stadium, and the rest of the city is through the Rio de Janeiro Metro.

Development programme[link]

Brazilian states and cities of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The Brazilian federal government has earmarked R$ 3 billion (€ 1.8 billion, £ 1.1 billion) for investment in works relating to the 2014 World Cup, and intends to release a package of works, entitled the FIFA World Cup PAC (Portuguese acronym for Growth Acceleration Programme). According to the Brazilian minister of cities, Márcio Fortes, the bulk of funds should go to works pertaining to the tournament itself, but the total figure will only be defined after a meeting with representatives of the municipalities that will host the matches.

"This is only an initial figure. We have not set a figure yet. These R$3 billion will allow us to take the first step. The total value of projects is not known yet. We are going to hold talks with mayors to learn which projects are priorities," said the minister. The funds will be supplied by Pró-Transporte, a financing programme funded by the Severance Pay Indemnity Fund (FGTS) whose regulation was passed last year by the fund's Board of Curators.

According to Fortes, several city councils have already contacted the ministry and showed interest in partnership for carrying out infrastructure work turned exclusively to the Cup that will be held in Brazil. "For some time now, the city councils that will host the matches have been contacting us. The city councils have had meetings with FIFA and several projects were outlined. Our approach consists of dealing only with projects exclusively turned to the Cup. Our goal right now is not to solve transport-related issues in the city. We are going to help solve the issues pertaining to the events," he stated. According to the minister, another factor to be analysed by the Ministry of Cities is usefulness and sustainability of the investment after the competition is over. "We are not going to deal with huge projects. The cheapest and most efficient means of transport will be used. Of course, each case will be analysed separately," he explained.

CPTM train in Greater São Paulo.

Fortes stated that the PAC of the Cup is going to include partnerships with city councils and state governments, as well as some partnerships with the private sector. "The keyword is partnership. The federal government will not undertake anything by itself. It will be similar to the infrastructure PAC, in which we already have partnerships with city councils and state governments, as well as public-private partnerships. We are going to review the type of investment proposed, analyse their size, and the need for private sector participation, which may take place in different ways. The private sector may build and then lease the assets, or perhaps operate them. All of that will be discussed," he stated.

The minister also informed that preparations for the World Cup already include the creation of a line of financing for renewing the bus fleet across the country. The line will be made available by the Brazilian Federal Savings Bank with total funds of R$1 billion (€ 600 million, £ 375 million).^[32]

Maracanã projects[link]

Engenhão stadium, will host a training centre for teams in Rio de Janeiro.

Maracanã Stadium, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, has been chosen for the final match. Maracanã was inaugurated in the 1950 World Cup. For the 2014 World Cup, among other adaptations, a new cover will be built. The project also includes construction of a building for parking, above the lines of Supervia and subways, with 3,500 parking spaces. The estimated investment is R$ 460 million. According to the study of Sinaenco, there is a need to improve the visibility for spectators in the first few rows behind the cabins in the Maracanã, redesign the facilities for people with disabilities, and provide general health reform.

The project may also provide for the restoration of Quinta da Boa Vista and the Museum of São Cristóvão, in addition to redevelopment and revitalization of neighborhoods including Tijuca. The Engenhão stadium, completed for the 2007 Pan American Games, has a capacity of 45,000 people and will serve as a training ground for the World Cup.

An investment of R$ 5 billion is required to meet the requirements that Rio de Janeiro faces in the final tournament and other games, covering three areas: logistics (roads, railways, ports, waterways and airports), energy (generation and transmission of electric power, petroleum, natural gas and renewables) and social and urban (light, sanitation, housing, subways and water resources). In relation to the Rio de Janeiro Metro, the Ministry of Transport has held a public hearing regarding the extension of its lines. The line for the new project is 13.5 km (8.4 mi) long, and should cross the South Zone of the city, carrying around 200,000 passengers per day between six metro stations.^[33]

Corinthians projects[link]

Morumbi Stadium, will host a training centre for teams in São Paulo.

The New Corinthians Stadium, in the city of São Paulo, has been chosen for the opening ceremony. São Paulo's chances of staging the opening ceremony of soccer's 2014 World Cup improved after FIFA accepted a guarantee that SC Corinthians Paulista's new stadium will be completed in time for the tournament. The stadium, being built by Odebrecht SA, will cost R$800 million (US$ 522 million), according to Corinthians President Andres Sanchez. BNDES, the national development bank, pledged R$ 400 million and the city of São Paulo will provide a property fund worth R$ 400 million.

On a statement on the Corinthians website, Ricardo Teixeira, president of the World Cup local organising committee and the Brazilian Football Confederation, said: "This approval – in record time, less than a year – is the result of efforts by the government of São Paulo, particularly the Governor Geraldo Alckmin and Mayor Gilberto Kassab."^[34] FIFA's approval of the project to build a new home for Brazil's biggest soccer club by revenue, which originally had a cost estimate of US$ 1.2 billion, was required for São Paulo to host World Cup games.

In June 2011, then sports minister Orlando Silva said in an interview that the federal government would tell tournament organizer FIFA that São Paulo, Salvador, Belo Horizonte and Brasília are eligible to stage the opening ceremony. FIFA will announce the venue in October. Sanchez said: "I said before that if Corinthians could fulfill all the requirements of FIFA, the opening of the World Cup would be in São Paulo. Corinthians gave the guarantees required by FIFA, so the opening will be in São Paulo."^[34] Most of the funding for investment in airports, stadiums, ports and urban transportation before the World Cup will come from the government.^[35]

Host cities[link]

In 1950, host cities of the World Cup were concentrated in the southeast and south.^[36] In 2014, the host cities are more evenly distributed. Each host city is the capital of its state. The selection covers all the main regions of Brazil and as a result the tournament will require significant long-distance travel for teams. Brazil is the fifth largest nation in the world by geographical size.^[37] Although Brazil straddles the equator, all the proposed match venues are in the southern hemisphere, meaning that the games will be held in the winter period (although most venues for the tournament are situated in the tropics). The cold front comes from Antarctica causing cold weather in the south and central part of the country, and rainy weather in the north. However, the future stadiums are being prepared for these conditions.^[38]

FIFA agreed to increase the number of host cities from ten to 12 because of the size of Brazil. "In the very beginning, ten cities were going to be chosen, but thanks to the influence of [CBF president] Ricardo Teixeira and the interest of the whole country, we agreed increasing the number to twelve," said FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Teixeira briefed FIFA members about all 17 candidate cities.^[39]

A reported US$1 billion (approx. £650 million) is to be approved for the repair, upgrading and maintenance of Brazilian stadiums. However, aiming to build "state of the art" stadiums and, therefore, increasing their chances to be part of 2014's tournament, some Brazilian states are searching for expertise abroad. Recently delegations from Recife and Porto Alegre, for example, visited the Amsterdam Arena in order to understand the formula which made that stadium highly profitable. Amsterdam Arena, the home of AFC Ajax, has developed and is offering its expertise on the multi-use-purpose stadium concept and management. Amsterdam Arena has been developed to accommodate not only football matches but also concerts and events. Amsterdam Arena is currently developing two projects for Brazil: Recife/Olinda and Porto Alegre (Grêmio).^[40]

Security plan[link]

Brazilian Federal Police and the anti-bomb robot.

Anti-terrorism investment to 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The Brazilian government said authorities will have an efficient security plan in place for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Justice Minister José Eduardo Cardoso said in an interview with Brazilian radio stations that "the 2014 World Cup will be a very safe event." One of the security measures that the government plans to implement is facial recognition software, in which Brazilian police will use futuristic glasses fitted with facial recognition equipment to identify and root out troublemakers at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

A small camera fitted to the glasses can capture 400 facial images per second and send them to a central computer database storing up to 13 million faces. Minister Cardoso said the government is developing a public safety plan that will be unveiled "soon."^[41]

Secretary José Ricardo Botelho is facing perhaps the most important mission of his life as a civil servant. Heading the newly created Special Secretariat for the Security of Large Events, Botelho has the task of ensuring the safety of Brazilians and tourists during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. To this end, he has developed what might be called an obsession: to integrate the security forces of a country with continental dimensions like Brazil. To prove that the goal will be achieved, he draws on History, his other obsession: "People who have a history know where they want to go."

Integration is the keyword in the Strategic Security Plan prepared for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In addition to ensuring quick responses, the plan provides for an integrated security system that can be left as a legacy to the country. In total, an estimated 45,000 men linked to the security forces will be mobilized, not to mention reinforcements from the Brazilian Armed Forces and Civil Defense. "The country does not need to create anything new, but just to integrate its existing tools," he said. According to José Ricardo Botelho, the databases of federal and state security forces will be integrated with the Interpol database, which means connecting Brazil to 188 countries. In addition, the government has already sent documents to the United States, Germany, England, Holland, South Africa, Poland and Argentina requesting information about terrorists, "troublemakers" and hooligans.

"We want to work proactively rather than defensively; hence the importance of technology. We are linking everything so that when a person fitting this profile applies for a visa, for example, we will already have the first barrier in place. But in the case of a country for which an entry visa is not required, when the person gets to our borders he or she will not be allowed into Brazil. But what if he or she does? We are working with state-of-the-art equipment to identify these people. We do not want them among us," says the commissioner. Technology pervades all discussions of the Security Plan for the World Cup. Teams from the Special Secretariat for the Security of Large Events are visiting the 12 host cities to follow civil works in the stadiums that will be hosting World Cup games. Anti-bomb groups are monitoring the works up to delivery, in order to ensure that no artifacts are hidden inside pillars and foundations.

In addition to security in the stadiums, the Secretariat for the Security of Large Events is keeping a close eye on fan fests. Each host city will have an operational command center with representatives of the police, the Armed Forces, the Fire Department and Civil Defense. There, decision-making promises to be quick. The central command headquarters will be located in Brasília and Rio de Janeiro.^[42]

Brazil is training of 53,000 public safety professionals for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The professionals will be made by the state governments for each individual games venue. They will be trained in three categories: experts, multipliers (who will help to transfer knowledge to other professionals) and operators. The training courses will include "Public safety without homophobia", application of human rights in policing, Brazilian Sign Language and foreign languages.^[43]

Anti-fraud plan[link]

Launch of Transparency Portal.

On 11 June 2010, the federal government launched a program to protect the tenders for work in preparation for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games against the possibility of fraud. The plan, known as Jogando Limpo (Fair Play), includes a series of guidelines and nuggets of advice so that the government institutions, and also the tax authorities and common citizens themselves, may identify and denounce attempts at fraud against the tenders. The program, which was launched by the Ministries for Justice and for Sport, also plans the establishment of a group dedicating to monitoring tenders, to protect them against the threat of fraud and also to avoid delays in construction work.