RIO DE JANEIRO: The first of three major international sporting events in Brazil begins next month, with football’s Confederations Cup pitting three former world champions, including the hosts, against the current title holders, Spain, and outsiders Mexico, Nigeria, Japan and tiny Tahiti.
But the traditional curtain-raiser to the most-watched sporting event on the planet -- next year’s World Cup -- will be watched as much for the action off the pitch as on it.
Brazil has been beset by delays in the construction of venues and key supporting infrastructure, straining relations between local organisers and the sport’s world governing body FIFA and raising fears about the World Cup and the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
“The legacy of the World Cup will not be the one we hoped for,” the head of the national union of engineers and architects, Jose Roberto Bernasconi, has said.
“But Brazil has started working and the main thing is that the work will be ready one day, because it goes beyond these events and is being done for Brazilians.”
The Confederations Cup, which kicks off on June 15, for the first time involves three former world champions -- the hosts, beaten Euro 2012 finalists Italy and Copa America winners Uruguay -- as well as the current World Cup holders and double European champions, Spain. Also playing are CONCACAF champions Mexico, Africa Cup of Nations winners Nigeria, the holders of the Asian Cup, Japan, and the Oceania champions, Tahiti. All three events are designed to showcase the South American giant’s recent economic and political progress. A succession of problems, however, has cast a shadow on the country’s ability to complete massive infrastructure projects, with most running behind schedule. AFP
