Many of Brazil's World Cup projects remain unfinished a year later
Sao Paulo, June 13 In terms of public works, the legacy of Brazil's turn as host of the 2014 World Cup remains very mixed, with some projects way behind schedule, some cancelled and others left on the drawing board, media outlets say. Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper and the news web site G1 marked the one-year anniversary of the start of the tournament by reviewing the status of stadiums and complementary structures, mainly related to transportation, in the 12 cities that hosted matches, Efe reported on Friday.
Eight of the 12 Cup stadiums ended 2014 with losses and face an uncertain financial future, according to Folha. The big loser among the stadiums was Rio de Janeiro's remodelled Maracana, the venue for several World Cup matches, including the final, which finished 2014 with a 77.2 million reais ($24.8 million) deficit.
The new purpose-built stadiums in cities such as Natal, Fortaleza, Manaus, Brasilia and Cuiaba, all lacking top-flight football clubs as permanent tenants, are struggling to survive.
Only projects in Rio de Janeiro were finished
G1, in its analysis, focused on the numerous transportation initiatives spawned by the World Cup endeavour. The website reported that among the host cities, only in Rio de Janeiro have all the World Cup-related transport projects been completed.
In the remote Amazon city of Manaus, a monorail and a planned express bus service have been cancelled. Fortaleza has a new passenger port, but a light-rail system is only half complete and the work remains on hold pending the award of a new contract.
A plan for light rail in Brasilia was dropped in 2013, and an elevated freeway completed during the tournament needs repairs, while other projects around the stadium have not even started and the upgraded airport suffer from leaks.
And in Sao Paulo, where the Cup's inaugural match was played on June 12, 2014, the planned metro connection with Guarulhos International Airport has been cancelled.