Brazil to host 2014 World Cup

Associated
Press- Brazil was chosen host of the 2014 World Cup on Tuesday, returning the
showcase event to the soccer-mad country that held the tournament in 1950 and
has captured the title a record five times.

Brazil
was the only candidate and won in
a unanimous vote by the executive committee of the sport’s governing body.

“Soccer
is not only a sport for us,” Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
said. “It’s more than that: Soccer for us is a passion, a national
passion.”

FIFA
president Sepp Blatter said

Brazil
now has “not only the right, but the responsibility” to organize the
2014 tournament. Blatter then handed the World Cup trophy to Lula.

Lula, who
flew in for the announcement, promised that

Brazil “will now with great
pride do its homework.” And, he added, “if everything works out well,
we will win once again a World Cup.”

The vote
came on the same day the 2011 Women’s World Cup was awarded to

Germany.
Germany, the host of the 2006 men’s World Cup,
beat out

Canada.

After the
withdrawal of
Colombia in
April,

Brazil
was the sole candidate, the choice of the South American continent enjoying the
right to host the event.

Brazil
had been told by FIFA it wasn’t guaranteed the tournament simply because it was
the only candidate, saying it had to provide a solid bid package.

Blatter
said the lack of competition from other South American nations was one reason
behind FIFA’s decision Monday to do away with the rotation system that gave
each continent a turn at hosting the World Cup. The decision takes effect with
the 2018 tournament.

“We
are a civilized nation, a nation that is going through an excellent phase, and
we have got everything prepared to receive adequately the honor to organize an
excellent World Cup,” Brazilian Football Confederation president Ricardo
Teixeira said.

Brazilian
Sports Minister Orlando Silva, national team coach Dunga, veteran striker
Romario and renowned author Paulo Coelho were among those making the trip to

Zurich.

“Of
course, dreams demand hard work and we Brazilians are ready to face this
task,” Coelho said. “All the countries in the world have two teams —
the national squad and the Brazilian squad.”

Brazil
hosted the World Cup once before,
57 years ago. Since launching its bid for 2014,

Brazil has emphasized why the
country needs the World Cup, much more than what it has to offer the tournament.

“Over
the next few years we will have a consistent influx of investments. The 2014
World Cup will enable

Brazil
to have a modern infrastructure,” Teixeira said. “In social terms
will be very beneficial.”

“Our
objective is to make

Brazil
become more visible in global arenas,” he added. “The World Cup goes
far beyond a mere sporting event. It’s going to be an interesting tool to
promote social transformation.”

Tuesday’s
presentation was smoother than the one in July, which underlined

Brazil’s status
as a developing nation with repeated images of its car factories and dry
statistics.

Blatter
had recently questioned Brazil’s infrastructure and bid plans, but FIFA said
last week that a stadium-inspection trip in August showed the country could put
on “an exceptional” tournament.

Brazil has 10 of the world’s
largest soccer stadiums.

However,
there have been delays in hosting some major events, problems with violence in
the streets and the public transportation system in the country is often
overloaded.

The
Brazilian soccer confederation estimates that the construction and remodeling
of stadiums will require an investment of $1.1 billion, though that could vary
significantly depending on the cities chosen to host games.