(ATR) Belo Horizonte’s top World Cup official tells Around the Ringsthe Brazil 2014 tournament and the city’s Rio Olympic associations have put it on the global map.
Fears over anti-government protests ruining the tournament in Brazil were quickly banished as the competition threw up one thrilling game after another in the group stages.
Camillo Fraga, municipal secretary for the World Cup in Belo Horizonte, told ATR Brazil’s hosting of the competition has silenced the skeptics.
"Football is a passion in Brazil. It’s in our blood. When it started, I think everything changed," he said.
A few small protests in Sao Paulo, Rio and a couple of other cities have not detracted from a glorious few weeks of football when all the talk, apart from the Luis Suarez bite, has centered on the entertaining clashes and stunning goals. The scenes of celebration in the 12 host cities is in marked contrast to the violent demonstrations that marred the Confederations Cup in 2013.
"People are connecting with the World Cup. It’s really good to see that. Now is the time to enjoy the party and the World Cup," Fraga said.
"After the World Cup, we have elections in Brazil. People comprehended that the time to do changes is at election time."
Does he think the feel-good factor around the World Cup will benefit President Dilma Rousseff’s re-election hopes?
No, was his blunt response.
"The success of the World Cup won’t affect her chances of being re-elected. A Brazil win could be better for her, but I think she will lose," he said.
He noted that Rousseff was born in Belo Horizonte, capital city of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, but "she doesn’t do anything for our state."
World Cup Legacy
Critics of FIFA and the World Cup, mainly those inside Brazil, have blasted the billions of dollars invested in venues and infrastructure and point to the white elephants left after the South Africa World Cup. But they can have no truck with Belo Horizonte’s legacy.
"It was very good to have this reconstruction to improve the quality [of the stadium]," Fraga emphasised.
"We are using our stadium. We have three big teams here. We have a lot of concerts in the Mineirao," he said.
"For us, it’s not a white elephant."
Belo Horizonte’s World Cup legacy stretches to the Rio 2016 Olympics and beyond.
Since 2009, when Rio secured hosting rights, Belo Horizonte started work to attract Olympic teams to train in the city. It has paid off handsomely.
In 2013, the British Olympic Association agreed to make the city Team GB’s training base; last month the British Paralympic Association struck a deal to set up ParalympicGB’s camp here ahead of the Games.
The Mineirao stadium will also host men’s and women’s football at the Rio Games; a total of 14 football matches will be staged in the city.
Fraga said the training camps and the city’s hosting role at the Rio Olympics is "really important."
"To have this internalisation of our city, it’s important to show people we have contracts," he said, adding that the Paralympics agreement would help the city improve accessibility for disabled people.
Fraga shrugs off fears that Brazil’s spotlight on delivering a smoothly-run World Cup is triggering further delays in Olympic preparations. Rio 2016 is already well behind across the project.
"It’s not a concern but it’s something we have to see. For our part, we will deliver for the Olympic Games. We have to deliver what we promise," he added, saying the challenges over the next two years related to finishing some training centres for different sports and on transport infrastructure for the Olympics.
Written by Mark Bisson
Homepage photo: Getty Images
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
