What’s the World Cup worth? For some, it is a cash cow and a commercial bonanza; to others, a waste of money. Is hosting the tournament worth it?
Ever wondered what the World Cup is worth? When Italian sculptor Silvio Gazzaniga designed the current trophy in 1971, it was worth US$50,000. Now the trophy is estimated to be worth US$10m. The World Cup is, however, worth much more than two human figures cast in 18 carat gold.
Tourists heading to the football World Cup in Brazil this June will spend more than $3 billion in the country, according to a government forecast on Wednesday.
An estimated 3.7 million tourists are expected to arrive in the country for the tournament, said the Ministry of Tourism, with about 1.9 million people set to actually attend World Cup matches, while another 1.8 million estimated visitors will arrive in Brazil to enjoy festivities linked to the World Cup.
The cost of building the Mane Garrincha stadium in Brazil’s capital of Brasilia has nearly tripled from its initial estimate, said government auditors on Wednesday, blaming corrupt officials for a lack of oversight into construction firms.
According to Brasilia’s Audit Court, the top electoral court in the country, some $275 million in public funds was found to have been wasted due to price gouging by contractors – and their auditors have only examined three-fourths of the project.
This year’s FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics seem to be a coronation of Brazil’s undeniable and startling success. But with the Brazilian presidential elections looming later this year, a surge in street protests and growing economic unrest, will Latin America’s largest nation cope under the international spotlight?
Standard & Poor’s on Monday cut the credit rating on Brazil’s long-term bonds from BBB+ to BBB-, reported Bloomberg, ending a decade-long stretch of upgrades for Latin America’s largest economy.
Brazil’s major hotel chains are set to meet with the justice ministry this week, after the government agency demanded an explanation from the group over several complaints regarding room prices during next year’s football World Cup.
Brazil’s top biomedical research centre, the government-funded Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, has announced plans to begin producing an affordable measles and rubella vaccine for developing countries, becoming only the second country in the world – behind India – to produce such vaccines at lower costs.
A $280 million football stadium built for the World Cup in Brazil next year could eventually be converted into a processing centre for prisoners, reported AFP on Thursday, after a local judge proposed the novel idea to ensure that the newly constructed venue would not become a ‘white elephant’.
The governments of Argentina and Brazil have agreed to cooperate on improving their cyber defence capabilities, following revelations that the U.S. was spying on South American governments through their e-mails, phone calls and other forms of communications.
“We need to reflect on how we cooperate to face these new forms of attack,” said Brazil’s Defence Minister, Celso Amorim, during a joint conference with his Argentine counterpart Agustin Rossi in Buenos Aires.
Nearly 10,000 square kilometres of Amazon rainforest land is now under the “protection” of the Brazilian government, announced officials on Monday, claiming that they would allow only for sustainable development in the area in a bid to halt deforestation.
