The abandonment of last Wednesday's South American Cup final following shocking accusations police had pulled guns on players should serve as a warning for Brazil's World Cup organizers, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said this weekend.
In terms of outbound travel South Americans are ahead of everyone else in the Americas. In 2012, they undertook 12% more trips abroad than last year, marking a new record. The country clearly driving growth is Brazil.
Brazil must not repeat the “national tragedy” of losing the 2014 World Cup as it did when it hosted the event in 1950, the country’s Minister of Sport Aldo Rebelo said. “We cannot repeat the national tragedy of 1950 when we lost to Uruguay” Rebelo told foreign journalists visiting Brazil as part of the build up to the finals. “It was like losing to your younger brother.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has cancelled her attendance to the Union of South American Nations, Unasur summit in Peru on Friday because of “agenda problems” and previous “domestic engagements”, according to the Planalto press secretary office. Vice-president Michel Temer will be attending in her name.
FIFA general secretary, Jerome Valcke has warned Brazil of the increasing crime rate in cities like Sao Paulo and also stressed on the need of more infrastructure ahead of the 2014 football World Cup.
Thousands of people took to the streets in Rio do Janeiro on Monday to urge Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to veto a bill that local officials say could cost Rio state billions of dollars in lost oil revenue, and cripple plans to host the World Cup and Olympics.
FIFA has named the mascot for the 2014 Brazil World Cup Fuleco, a word which organisers say transmits a message of environmental awareness, Football plus ecology.
Brazil’s poor infrastructure was again confirmed over the weekend at one of Sao Paulo international airports, Viracopos, when a damaged cargo aircraft blocked activities forcing 450 flight cancellations and overloading the already saturated capacity of other air terminals.
President Dilma Rousseff said British interest in Brazil had come at the right time after her government announced last month a 66 billion dollars investment in road and railway building as part of a massive plan to upgrade her country's dilapidated infrastructure, which includes modernizing ports and airports.
Brazil has chosen an endangered armadillo as the mascot for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. While nature's version is light brown in colour, Fifa's mascot is yellow with green eyes and a blue shell, the colours of the Brazilian flag, and will be holding aloft a football.