FIFA designates 16 more training centers for the World Cup.
This is the second-to-last list of locations eligible to host the 32 national teams – including Brazil – that will compete in the 2014 World Cup. In January, during a visit to the Anacleto Campanella Stadium in São Caetano do Sul (SP), one of the cities vying for the right to be a training center for national teams, the Minister of Sport, Aldo Rebelo, said that the chosen municipalities could benefit from the World Cup Nationalization Program.
Alex Rodrigues
Reporter Agência Brasil
Brasilia - The International Federation of Football (FIFA) released last Friday (8), the second and penultimate list of locations suitable to host the 32 teams – including Brazil – that will compete in the 2014 World Cup.
The new version of the National Team Training Center Catalog suggests 16 new options for locations where teams can stay and train, bringing the number of options already approved by the organization in partnership with the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) to 70. The first list, with 54 alternatives spread across 43 cities throughout the country, was released on August 1, 2012.
Based on the technical information in the catalog, the national teams themselves choose the locations that will serve as bases for their athletes to acclimatize and prepare for the event. Each option consists of a hotel and a training location. FIFA requires at least 64 pairs of approved alternatives. Thus, each team has at least two options to choose from. The teams have until January 2014 to indicate where they want to stay and train.
Of the new locations on this second list, nine are in the Southeast region (six in São Paulo, two in Rio de Janeiro, and one in Minas Gerais). Another five are in the South region (two in Rio Grande do Sul, two in Santa Catarina, and one in Paraná). There is also a new option in the Northeast region, in Maranhão, and one in the Central-West region, in Brasília. In the federal capital, the Olympic Village of the Fire Department was selected as a training location, along with the Manhattan Plaza hotel.
Of the 70 hotels and training centers already approved by FIFA, the majority (39) are located in the Southeast region, spread across cities such as Belo Horizonte (MG), Barra do Piraí (RJ), Ipatinga (MG), Ribeirão Preto (SP), Santos (SP), São Paulo (SP) and Vitória (ES).
Next comes the Southern region, with 19 locations in Bento Gonçalves (RS), Cascavel (PR), Curitiba (PR), Florianópolis (SC), Porto Alegre (RS), Joinville (SC), among others. The Northern, Northeastern, and Central-Western regions each have 4 options.
The final version of the catalog is only expected to be released in November and may include new options approved by FIFA. According to the organization, more than one hundred technical details are taken into account, such as electricity and water supply systems, access for teams and the press, interview venues, changing rooms, facilities for athletes, soil type, drainage, and distances between stadiums and facilities such as airports.
In January, while visiting the Anacleto Campanella Stadium in São Caetano do Sul (SP), one of the cities vying for the right to be a training center for national teams, the Minister of Sport, Aldo Rebelo, stated that the chosen municipality could benefit from the Nationalization Program of the World Cup. "This program has a focus, which is the cities selected for training centers. And the government can invest in public facilities in these cities. My visit is also due to this," explained the minister.
Edited by: José Romildo