Brazil, it’s time to catch up in the race to 2014

Brazil, it’s time to catch up in the race to 2014

“[Brazil] will be ready because it is the World Cup and no one can afford not to be ready for the World Cup.” - Sepp Blatter

Sepp, that’s just not how things work. The timetable of preparedness for the World Cup is against Brazil. We’re all going to try to go to the World Cup regardless of the levels of chaos, but we’ve all spoken with our Brazilian friends. The response from the World Cup hosts’ countrymen / voices of reason is the same: it’s going to be a mess.

Now, you expect a mess when the whole world throws a party for a month straight, but it’s rarely been this bad this close to the tournament. Only two of six stadiums are ready for the Confederations Cup in June.

Most recently, the Brazilian government has called upon the United Nations to assist with meeting deadlines for construction. As Reuters reports, “The Brasilia government signed this week a 35 million reais ($17.61 million) agreement with two U.N. agencies under which they will procure services and items such as tents, generators and security cameras for the stadium… The U.N.’s main advantage: It can acquire goods and services without going through the complex and lengthy procurement process required by the Brazilian government.”

Calling upon the UN is a desperate measure, but hopefully one that finally motivates the South Americans to get their act together. Brazil wants to truly showcase its standing as an emerging power, and - perhaps unfortunately - we’re all watching closely. [For more on the progress, or lack thereof, in Brazil, be sure to give our friend Chistopher Gaffney (Academic Geographer and Investigative Journalist) a follow. Posted by Eric]