World Cup transport ‘headache’ for Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 30, (AFP): With congested airports, ramshackle roads and nighmarish urban traffic jams, Brazil faces a major transportation headache as it gears up for the 2014 World Cup.
Despite planned investments of $13.65 billion for the soccer extravaganza, this continent-sized country cannot make up in the remaining 18 months for decades of neglect of its infrastructure, experts say.
The key challenge in preparing for the tournament “is the infrastructure around the (host) stadiums and how to access them. Brazilian roads are dreadful, except for those of Sao Paulo and the airports are horrendous,” said sports analyst Juca Kfouri.
Am estimated 500,000 foreign tourists and three million Brazilians are expected to attend matches in 12 host cities for the first World Cup to be held in Brazil since 1950.
The road system is saturated in Brazil — traveling less than 30 kilometres (19 miles) in Rio can take two hours and in Sao Paulo, the country’s economic capital, rush-hour traffic bottlenecks can be 250 kilometres long.
In Brazil, the world’s sixth largest economy with a population of 194 million, traffic accidents claim on average 117 lives daily, often due to the poor quality of roads and inadequate signs.
To try to tackle these problems, the government is considering decreeing public holidays when World Cup games are scheduled.
Meanwhile air travel may be more secure but is equally complicated. Airports are notoriously saturated, many are in disrepair and planned renovation work for the World Cup may not be ready in time, according to analysts.
Most of “the airports in Brazil are congested. If things do not improve, there will be problems,” Roberto Kriete, president of the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association, said recently.
Air transport in Brazil has soared more than 120 percent over the past decade, when more than 30 million people were lifted out of poverty. And it exceeds by far the increase in capacity.
Work on airports is progressing “at a slow place”, the court tasked with auditing spending on the World Cup said recently.
In 2011, the government privatized three airports — two in Sao Paulo and one in Brasilia — breaking the monopoly of Infraero, the government corporation in charge of operating the main commercial airports. And plans to privatize airports in Rio and Belo Horizonte are running behind schedule.
International executive aviation could also face “serious problems” during the World Cup due to the lack of space at Brazilian airports, according to Jose Efromovich, president of Avianca Brasil.
“We are talking about 800, 900 or 1000 jets of people coming (to Brazil) to bring millions and millions of dollars in investment. These people must fly in aboard their private planes. Where are we going to park them?,” he asked.
“Very few Brazilian airports have the required infrastructure,” he added.
“Transportation will be very, very complicated during the World Cup,” concurred Chris Gaffney, an urban planning expert at Rio’s Fluminense Federal University ( UFF) who is studying urban changes linked to the World Cup and the 2016 Rio summer Olympics.
“There is no national transport blueprint (...) Almost all urban mobility projects are running behind schedule and those airports that will not be privatized will not be ready for the World Cup,” he predicted.
“You still cannot buy a domestic air ticket on a Brazilian airline without a Brazilian tax number or without a Brazilian credit card. There is no map of the Rio bus system nor passenger rail links between the host cities,” he lamented.
Earlier this year, the federal government announced an economic stimulus scheme to upgrade the country’s aging infrastructure by selling road and railway concessions to the private sector.
Private companies are to bid on concessions for 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles) of train tracks — through a mix of state and private investments estimated at $45 billion — and 7,500 kms (4,600 miles) of highways, an estimated investment of $21 billion. eager to break a Bundesliga run of four defeats in their last four league meetings with Borussia.
Bayern midfielder Javi Martinez, who joined Munich from Athletic Bilbao in August, has likened the DortmundBayern clash to the Real MadridBarcelona El Clasico in Spain.
“I have followed the duel in Spain and it is a bit like the Clasico,” said the 24year-old. “There have always been problems against Dortmund and we have to change that.”
Bayern have already lost to secondplaced Bayer Leverkusen at home this season and must make home advantage count, said Munich midfielder Toni Kroos.
“Dortmund are the team with the highest quality after us,” he said.
“We know they are a strong opponent against whom we have had big problems in the last two years. We want to show we can do better against them.”
Bayern will have virtually a full strength squad to choose from with only Luiz Gustavo and Arjen Robben out with injury.
Dortmund have a few concerns of their own with midfield pair Mario Goetze and Ilkay Gundogan and defender Mats Hummels all facing a race to be fit.
Both Hoffenheim coach Markus Babbel and his Augsburg counterpart Markus Weinzierl are under pressure to turn results around with both teams in the bottom three.
Hoffenheim, who host Werder Bremen on Sunday, are 16th after their 4-2 defeat at Nuremberg which saw Babbel criticise his players, while Augsburg are home to Freiburg on Saturday.
“This is not about Markus Babbel, this is about TSG Hoffenheim,” said Babbel with one victory and five defeats in the last nine games.
“You have to wonder what is in the players’ heads. I will do all I can to get us out of this difficult situation. That is clear.”
Likewise, Weinzierl has just one win and five defeats in his last nine matches and badly needs a win over Freiburg.
Having dropped to fourth in the Bundesliga, Schalke 04 are looking to put a disastrous November behind them when they host Borussia Moenchengladbach after just one victory in the month’s five league matches.
Fixtures Saturday Schalke 04vs Borussia M’gladbach, Bayer Leverkusenvs Nuremberg, Mainz 05vs Hanover 96, Augsburgvs Freiburg, Greuther Fuerthvs VfB Stuttgart, Bayern Munichvs Borussia Dortmund Sunday Hoffenheimvs Werder Bremen, VfL Wolfsburgvs Hamburg