If it depends on FIFA, the reopening of the Maracanã already has a set date. This would be March 1st, 2013, three and a half months before the Confederations Cup kicks off, according to information supplied by the Folha de São Paulo newspaper.

The target now set by the international federation is that of playing two matches in the famous Rio de Janeiro stadium before the test tournament. The first match would involve Brazilian teams which have apparently already been chosen. The second would be a game involving the Brazilian national team, to be played in May.

According to the newspaper, these games would also be an experience for the future managers of the stadium. The Rio de Janeiro state government also intends to launch the Invitation to Bid for the concession of the Maracanã in the month of March.

However, before the stadium is handed over to private enterprise, the consortium in charge of the construction work shall have to strictly comply with the time frame for delivery. FIFA has warned that if the Maracanã is not ready for use by February 28, then the companies shall have to pay a fine of a few million Brazilian Reais.

So far, the reconstruction of the Rio de Janeiro stadium has advanced 32%, a rate which is well below those of the arenas which have already been confirmed in the Confederations Cup: Castelão (Fortaleza), Mané Garrincha (Brasília) and Mineirão (Belo Horizonte), which are nearing completion or at least have more than half the work finished.

Confederations

Budgeted at almost R$ 1 billion, the Maracanã shall be the main showpiece of the FIFA events to be staged in Brazil, including the final of the Confederations Cup and also the final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™. In 2014, the great stadium shall host the highest number of matches in the competition, seven in all.

However, there is a risk that the Brazilian national team shall play not even one match in Rio. The FIFA schedule of matches has set out that Brazil shall only play at the Maracanã if they reach the final.

The 2014 FIFA WC will be the 20th FIFA World Cup, an international association football tournament that will take place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014.

This will be the second time the country has hosted the competition, the first being the 1950 FIFA World Cup. Brazil will become the fifth country to have hosted the FIFA World Cup twice, after Mexico, Italy, France and Germany. It will be the first World Cup to be held in South America since the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, the first time two consecutive World Cups are staged outside Europe and the first time two consecutive World Cups are staged in the Southern Hemisphere (the 2010 FIFA World Cup was held in South Africa).

JOSEPH BLATTER

On 7 March 2003, FIFA announced that the tournament would be held in South America for the first time since Argentina hosted the competition in 1978, in line with its policy of rotating the right to host the World Cup amongst different confederations. On 3 June 2003, CONMEBOL announced that Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia wanted to host the 2014 World Cup finals.

By 17 March 2004, the CONMEBOL associations had voted unanimously to adopt Brazil as their sole candidate.[3]
Brazil formally declared its candidacy in December 2006 and Colombia followed a few days later. The Argentina bid never materialized. On 11 April 2007, Colombia officially withdrew its bid, Francisco Santos Calderón the vice president of Colombia announced that instead Colombia would be hosting the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. With this development, Brazil became the only official candidate to host the 2014 event. Brazil won the right to host the event on 30 October 2007 as the only country to enter a bid

OFFICIAL EMBLEM

To project these twin dimensions – Brazil’s modernity and its diversity – FIFA and the Brazil LOC invited 25 Brazilian-based agencies to submit designs for the Official Emblem of the 2014 tournament. Over 125 submissions were received by the time of the competition’s closing date, which were then reviewed by FIFA and the LOC and eventually reduced to a shortlist of designs.

The task of picking the winner was awarded to a high-profile seven-strong judging panel, largely selected from the host country. This included one of the most influential figures in modern Brazilian architecture, Oscar Niemeyer, designer Hans Donner, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, author Paulo Coelho, singer/actress Ivete Sangalo as well as two leading figures in the football world Ricardo Teixeira (President of the Brazilian Football Federation and President of the Brazilian Local Organizing Committee) and Jérôme Valcke (FIFA Secretary General),.

The judges were asked to rate the designs, giving marks for a number of areas. As well as its overall impression they were asked to assess how it conveyed the spirit of Brazil and the country’s connection with the FIFA World Cup as well as evaluate its creative and artistic merit and uniqueness.

When the judging process was completed all the scores were added together and the winning design – created by Brazilian design agency Africa – was revealed.

The inspiration for this design comes from the iconic photograph of three victorious hands together raising the world’s most famous trophy. As well as depicting the uplifting humanitarian notion of hands interlinking, the portrayal of the hands is symbolic of the yellow and green hands of Brazil warmly welcoming the world to Brazilian shores.

Victory and union are the two key emotive elements which are vividly depicted through the hands featured in the design. Whilst forming a clear link to the colours of the Brazilian national flag, the green and yellow colours also allude to two of the strongest features of life in Brazil – the golden beaches and beautiful sun reflected in the yellow tones, with green representing the strong tropical interior that Brazil is so famous for. The combination of the strong image, the contemporary typography and striking colours are extremely effective in depicting a modern and diverse host nation.

The vivid representation of the trophy in the emblem is extremely fitting, given Brazil’s outstanding achievements in having won the FIFA World Cup on five separate occasions, more than any other nation.

The message that is clear from this emblem is the idea of the unique bond between FIFA, the FIFA World Cup™ and Brazil, the host nation of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™.

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