The words 'order' and 'progress' may feature prominently on the Brazilian flag, but they don’t seem to apply to country preparations for the world's two biggest sporting events: the 2014 Football World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.

Work on stadiums and airports is well behind schedule, if started at all. At some venues where development and infrastructure projects are underway, alarming reports have surfaced about forced evictions and other violations of basic human rights. All these concerns are either ignored or brushed aside by Brazilian organisers, who are adamant the events will be a major success.

“I’m upset,” says Fernando Carvalho, an economics teacher in southern Rio. “Because again, the poor will pay the price. All the money that is allocated to these events will land into the coffers of big business, FIFA and the government.”

Red tape
Another problem, which Mr Carvalho calls “typically Brazilian”, is poor planning. “It’s a by-product of rampant bureaucracy and causes massive delays, simply because too many people have to be consulted and often persuaded to cooperate, if you know what I mean. The result: the organisers now have to rush to get all building projects ready in time.”

In similar fashion, FIFA president Sepp Blatter warned early this year that Brazil's project to host the 2014 World Cup is lagging behind “even where South Africa stood when the 2010 host fell behind its construction schedule.”

Slow progress now means Sao Paulo, the venue for the opening match where building has yet to start, and Rio de Janeiro are set to be left off the programme for the 2013 Confederations Cup, which is designed as a test event for the World Cup.

Brazilian sports minister Orlando Silva dismisses the criticisms. He’s invited Mr Blatter to come to his country, seeing for himself how much progress has been made. Besides, preparations would have accelerated “towards the end of the year,” Mr Silva pledged.

Red alert
This promise fails to convince pundits, given the massive scale of projects still underway. The Economist magazine lists a few key hurdles, focusing on redevelopment of the country’s airports. With Brazil’s economy booming and local demand soaring, it writes, most air terminals are already at saturation point. They won’t be able to cope with an estimated 1m additional football fans. At airports in nine of the 12 host cities, redevelopment work is running way behind schedule. The situation is “frightening” and “potentially embarrassing” in the words of former superstar Pele.

Meanwhile, the government has opted for some quick fixes. They have turned to the private sector for help and eased strict regulations for publicly funded projects, but these are set to up the multi-billion-dollar price tags for both tournaments.

“The problem is that, as the building in the lead-up to these events really gets rushed to the end, it just increases the expenditures and you very typically see these projects go way over budget,” says Victor Matheson, a US economist who’s published numerous articles on the impact of mega-events on host communities. He sees a clear pattern, one not exclusively limited to the developing world.

“It’s not just the Brazils and the Chinas that go over budgets, the 2012 Olympics in London are as well.”

Red card
Speeding up projects is causing collateral damage of a more serious nature, too. Many thousands of families have lost their homes under city beautification and development projects without sufficient compensation or consultation, says Raquel Rolnik, Special UN Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, in an interview with Radio Netherlands Worldwide.

“We’re seeing are new favelas [informal settlements or slums, ed] appearing in other areas or families who have simply been left homeless. People are being offered housing 30, 40 or even 50 kilometres away from their original homes, in areas where there is no infrastructure, no schools, no health posts, and no jobs. In other words, the relocation policies are in violation of the right to adequate housing.”

Red herring
That criticism is unjustified, says Nanko van Buuren, director of the Brazilian Institute for Innovations in Public Health (IBISS). “The problem is a complex one and there’s certainly no pattern of human rights abuse. Irregularities have occurred in one particular area, but most cases of re-housing in new favelas are due to people wasting their compensation allowance, which was often quite generous.”

The damage may have been done. Bad press has a big impact on the organisation of mega-projects, according to Mr Matheson.

“The real worry for Brazil is that if it gets too much negative publicity, people might say ‘Ah, the country is not ready, I’m not going to make that trip just because I’m worried that it’s going to be too much hassle getting through these half-completed projects.'”

“The government will never allow this to happen,” says Mr Carvalho. “There is just too much national prestige involved. Besides, people here tend to leave things until the very last minute, but will get them done in the end. That’s typically Brazilian, too. Don’t worry, Brazil will be ready, and the World Cup and the Rio Olympics will be fun.”

 
Read more:
ecpaplanning.org
proreferee.com
news.yahoo.com
gamesmonitor.org.uk
foxsports.com
 

(kh)