As billions of dollars went toward Brazil’s hosting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, millions of tourists and soccer fans made their way to Brazil to be a part of the games. Many people wondered whether Brazil would survive hosting one of the world’s most-watched sporting events.
New roads, stadiums, airports and other needs for the country’s guests during the games were recently built, and many doubted their infrastructure would withstand the Cup. Costing an incredible amount of money for Brazil to host the event, the debate of whether those funds made trustworthy amenities circulated among media.
Months before the games, there were many predictions of how things may go wrong due to rushed planning and poor building projects. People assumed places would collapse due to their hurried building in anticipation for the mass amounts of incoming visitors traveling to Brazil for the games.
Prior to the Cup, a survey by Pew Research Center showed 61 percent of Brazilians considered hosting the event to be negative and that funds should have gone towards poverty relief, schools and other public services instead.
But by July, a Brazilian research company, Datafolha, found 60 percent of Brazilians were proud of how the World Cup had been accomplished. A drastic change in attitude and support within the host country uplifted spirits as the games began this summer.
Only a few minor occurrences of failed construction for the Cup appeared this summer. On July 3, an overpass being built in the host city of Belo Horizonte collapsed, killing two people and injuring 19. This unfinished construction fault attracted many eyes to whether Brazil was at fault for this mistake and whether they were even ready to hold such an event. This mistake resulted in deaths, but it was a complete accident that this overpass was not prepared and finished by the time it saw use during the games. The World Cup sped up the building process of many things prior to this summer in order for Brazil to be prepared in time for hosting the event.
There are many infrastructure improvements to take place in Brazil now that the World Cup has ended, and many predictions voice that Brazil will handle them better than most previous host countries. Brazil now has to begin preparing and focusing on the 2016 Summer Olympic Games that they will also hold. Brazil hosted a very memorable World Cup this year that will go down in history, and the country had very few problems with facilities and new construction. Now they will move forward in anticipation for hosting a successful Olympic Games in two years, keeping in mind all the progress they can make since they held the World Cup this summer.
The infrastructure of the stadiums, buildings, airports, roads and much more that were built for the Cup exceeded the public’s expectations. Many of the doubts and negativity aimed at Brazil’s ability to host such a monumental event were proved wrong this summer. Although their nation’s team was defeated on the soccer field, Brazil is a proud host country standing strong after the 2014 FIFA World Cup has ended.