Soccer world governing body FIFA said on Tuesday it had set up a US$100 million World Cup Legacy Fund for Brazil, aimed at sports facilities, youth and women’s soccer, and medical and health projects.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter pledged two years ago to give back some of the income from last year’s World Cup to grassroots programs in the South American nation, which spent about US$15 billion organizing the tournament.
Spending on the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics is expected to top US$15 billion.
Photo: AFP
FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke, speaking in Sao Paulo, Brazil, said the World Cup “inevitably has an impact on society and the environment in the host country.”
He said organizers had a “responsibility to limit the associated negative effects, while at the same time maximizing the huge positive impact it can have.”
It will take years to assess the impact of the World Cup in Brazil.
It is clear that Brazilian politicians underestimated the costs, stadiums were late getting ready and many related infrastructure project were canceled, or have yet to be completed.
On the field, matches were high-scoring and jam-packed, and a heavy police and military presence helped discourage the kind of protests that overshadowed the 2013 Confederations Cup.
Brazil were eliminated in a stunning 7-1 lost to Germany in the semi-finals.
FIFA, a not-for-profit organization based in Switzerland, generated more than US$4 billion in sales from the World Cup last year. The figure could reach US$5 billion for Russia’s 2018 World Cup.
An analysis earlier this month said Brazil spent about US$3 billion on new and refurbished stadiums, 90 percent of it being public money.
Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had promised all stadiums would be privately financed.
Brazilian government officials acknowledged that public holidays associated with the World Cup were partly to blame for the country falling into a technical recession late last year.
Four of the 12 stadiums used for the World Cup are almost certain to become white elephants. Some are faced with hosting weddings and children’s events to generate income. Several are expected to host a few events for the Rio Olympics.
Valcke acknowledged that “some of the stadiums are not used permanently.”
He said it would “take time to use all the stadiums at their maximum.”
He also responded to criticism of FIFA in the Brazilian media.
“Our commitment [is] to be in Brazil after the World Cup, not to leave, as some media said — I mean [comments like]: ‘FIFA is coming to Brazil taking the money out of Brazil and run away from Brazil right after the final.’ It is not true,” Valcke said.
“FIFA is committed to develop and support football wherever we organize our events,” Valcke added.
Despite Brazil’s prestige in the game, Jose Maria Marin, president of the Brazilian Football Federation, said some of the legacy money was targeted for the 15 states where the game is not as well funded.
“We took on a commitment with the states that did not host the event to make sure the benefits of the World Cup will reach places where, although the love of football is huge, the structure offered to the community still cannot be compared to that which we see in the bigger cities,” Marin said.
FIFA said the Brazilian federation was responsible for the projects — subject to FIFA approval.
FIFA said the spending would be audited by accounting firm KPMG.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier