Well the party's over and one year down the road here we are looking back at the dismal track record of what was promised and what actually was delivered. The Brazilian people suffered greatly in order that their government could put on this world-class event with it's small town mentality.
So what's the tally? Well it's not too impressive:
Airports - 12 promised, 5 completed (before or after the World Cup), 1 incomplete, 6 delayed (still in progress)
Completed - Juscelino Kubitschek, Brasília DF; Alfonso Pena, São José dos Pinhais PR; Gilberto Freyre, Recife PE, Gov. Aluizio Alves, São Gonçalo do Amarante RN; Guarulhos, São Paulo SP;
Incomplete - Salgado Filho, Porto Alegre RS
Delayed - Eduardo Gomes, Manaus AM; Dep. Luis Eduardo Magalhães, Salvador BA; Pinto Martins, Fortaleza CE; Marechal Rondon, Várzea Grande MT; Confins, Belo Horizonte MG; Antonio Carlos Jobim/Galeão, Rio de Janeiro RJ
Stadiums - 12 promised, 11 completed (before or after the World Cup), 1 delayed (still in progress)
Delayed - Pantanal Arena, Cuiabá MT
White Elephant - Amazonia Arena, Manaus AM, city has no official team and hosts few events, completed after World Cup, operates at a loss, gross revenues since World Cup R$2.5 million, cost of maintenance R$6 milllion.
Mobility Projects - 12 promised (many others never got off the drawing board), 1 completed, 4 incomplete, 7 delayed (still in progress)
Completed - Transcarioca (BRT), Rio de Janeiro RJ
Incomplete - Monorail and BRT (didn't get off the drawing board), Manaus AM; LRT (didn't get off the drawing board), one viaduct already needs major repairs and other projects around the stadium won't be ready until 2017, Brasília DF; Airport-Bus/train depot link, Curitiba PR; Airport Express (didn't get off the drawing board) CPTM Jade Line to Airport and Gold Line monorail won't be ready until 2017
Delayed - LRT, Curitiba PR; BRT and Via210 aside from the viaduct that collapsed during World Cup 5 other viaducts over Av. Pedro I present major problems, Belo Horizonte MG; BRT, Recife PE; Maritime Terminal and Access to Airport, Natal RN; BRT, Ring Road, Projects around Stadium; Porto Alegre RS;
With less than one year to go before the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio, things aren't looking a heck of a lot better there either. I'm sure the IOC is regretting not having pulled the games and gone with their Plan B, but too late for that now.
Cheers,
James Expat-blog Experts Team
LEGACY OF THE 2014 WORLD CUP - ONE YEAR AFTER
I spent several years in South Africa, and was there for world cup in 2010. Pretty much the same story.
I wonder if countries will ever learn that hosting the World Cup or the Olympics is a terrible idea? Especially for poorer countries. It's robbing citizens of their money and the infrastructure never gets finished as promised. And the stadiums are always left empty. It's insane.
Worse still FIFA gets obscene tax exemptions on the millions that it rakes in and even tells governments that they have to change laws. Here in Brazil there was a long standing law that alcoholic beverages couldn't be sold in stadiums in order to reduce violence. Well FIFA waltzed in and demanded that be changed, they told the Brazilian government flatly that this demand was not subject to negotiation. As you guess the Brazilian government caved in and repealed the law.
Cheers,
James
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