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Brazil submit bid for 2014 World Cup

Brazil formally submitted a bid to Fifa to host the 2014 World Cup yesterday, hoping to bring the tournament to the country for…

Thu Dec 14 2006 - 00:00

Brazil formally submitted a bid to Fifa to host the 2014 World Cup yesterday, hoping to bring the tournament to the country for the first time since 1950.

Ricardo Teixeira, the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) presented his country's bid to soccer's world governing body in Tokyo where he and his fellow directors are attending the Club World Cup.

"We have formally expressed out desire to stage the 2014 World Cup," Teixeira, a member of FIFA's Executive Committee, was quoted as saying on Fifa's official Web site. "It will be a unique opportunity for the Brazilian people." Fifa will announce the host of the finals next November.

The 2014 tournament is scheduled to take place in South America as part of Fifa's continental rotation policy, but although Brazil are expected to be the only South American country to bid, it is not a foregone conclusion they will win the right to stage the event.

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Last week Fifa president Sepp Blatter said that if a bid from South America did not meet Fifa's exacting requirements, the World Cup could be "moved north".

Not everyone in Brazil is convinced the country can host the finals. Abel Braga, the coach of Internacional who reached the Club World Cup final in Tokyo yesterday said: "I don't think Brazil is in a position to host a World Cup. We don't have the infrastructure to cope with it in terms of hotels and safety. The country is not ready for it.

"That's just my personal opinion - Brazil has a lot of problems to solve before it can host a World Cup."

Critics say that only one Brazilian stadium, the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, is currently in good enough condition to host a World Cup finals match. Public safety and transport are also serious worries.

Brazil, who have won the World Cup a record five times, hosted the tournament for the only time in 1950 when it was won by Uruguay.

The next World Cup will be in South Africa in 2010 and officials in the country were quickto dismiss concerns it had fallen behind in their preparations, saying it had made headway in modernising stadiums and making the streets safe for visitors.

"The preparation work has begun," Deputy Minister of Finance Jabu Moleketi said at a news conference in the capital Pretoria yesterday. "Our eyes are on the ball and we are going to deliver . . . we are confident we are on time."