Thank God It's 7 Years Away

How ready is Brazil to start the arduous task of putting together a World Cup? Not so much, according to the BBC's South American correspondent Tim Vickery. No having any (that's right, any) stadium capable of hosting a match is the least of Brazil's problems:

One of the most authoritative and fearless voices in the Brazilian sports press belongs to Marcelo Damato of the 'Lance!' newspaper.

He picked up on [Orlando] Silva's comments, writing that the sports minister "was talking as if Brazil did not have the highest tax burden in the world, some of the worst figures in education and criminality, and, worse, the tragic experience of the use of public money in the Pan-American Games."

These latter, to be staged in Rio de Janeiro in July, are proving highly controversial. Costs have spiralled, some venues are rushing to be ready in time and promises of transport legacies to the city have been quietly dropped.

One's got to imagine that if South Africa can pull their shit together, surely Brazil can. Right?

Tim Vickery column [BBC]

-ac