Brazil Named 2014 World Cup Hosts
Fifa have unveiled Brazil as the World Cup hosts for 2014.
The South American country was the only bidding nation for the tournament which they last hosted in 1950.
So not much of a decision for Fifa to make then, but at least the process to decide the 2014 hosts has prompted a change for 2018 and an end to the rotation policy.
It was a decision marked by no small frustration on the FIFA President's part, Blatter being left exasperated by Brazil's sole candidacy.
This was a large part of the reason that FIFA have now scrapped the controversial continent rota that limited bids to just one area of the world at a time.
Joseph Blatter was forced to deposit a lot of faith in the Brazilian government and Teixeira's CBF (Confederação Brasileira de Futebol - Confederation of Brazilian Football) for the 2014 edition.
“It wasn't easy for us to make the decision. We had a team of experts visit this nation of 190 million inhabitants and the country has been approved", explained Blatter.
The Zurich-based event included acceptance speeches from Brazilian state President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a clan of twelve sports ministers under Orlando Silva, the writer Paulo Coelho, the striker Romário and national Coach Dunga.
It's the second time that a World Cup comes to Brazil, the first having been won by Uruguay against Brazil at Maracanã, South America having hosted four editions so far: Uruguay (1930), Chile (1962) and Argentina (1978 ).
Rio de Janeiro/Zurich - Hosting the 2014 World Cup will change Brazil, said Brazilian bestseller author Paulo Coelho. "That is going to change the country, it is going to unveil another country to the world - a country that needs to be unveiled. It is going to change everything," the author said in an interview with Brazilian TV channel SporTV.
The author of The Pilgrimage and The Alchemist was at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich on Tuesday, to support the Brazilian bid.
Preparations for a World Cup can "reveal the creativity, the ability to work together and to make Brazil an ever better nation," Coelho said. "That will motivate Brazil to unify all its forces."
The South American country was the only bidding nation for the tournament which they last hosted in 1950.
So not much of a decision for Fifa to make then, but at least the process to decide the 2014 hosts has prompted a change for 2018 and an end to the rotation policy.
It was a decision marked by no small frustration on the FIFA President's part, Blatter being left exasperated by Brazil's sole candidacy.
This was a large part of the reason that FIFA have now scrapped the controversial continent rota that limited bids to just one area of the world at a time.
Joseph Blatter was forced to deposit a lot of faith in the Brazilian government and Teixeira's CBF (Confederação Brasileira de Futebol - Confederation of Brazilian Football) for the 2014 edition.
“It wasn't easy for us to make the decision. We had a team of experts visit this nation of 190 million inhabitants and the country has been approved", explained Blatter.
The Zurich-based event included acceptance speeches from Brazilian state President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a clan of twelve sports ministers under Orlando Silva, the writer Paulo Coelho, the striker Romário and national Coach Dunga.
It's the second time that a World Cup comes to Brazil, the first having been won by Uruguay against Brazil at Maracanã, South America having hosted four editions so far: Uruguay (1930), Chile (1962) and Argentina (1978 ).
Rio de Janeiro/Zurich - Hosting the 2014 World Cup will change Brazil, said Brazilian bestseller author Paulo Coelho. "That is going to change the country, it is going to unveil another country to the world - a country that needs to be unveiled. It is going to change everything," the author said in an interview with Brazilian TV channel SporTV.
The author of The Pilgrimage and The Alchemist was at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich on Tuesday, to support the Brazilian bid.
Preparations for a World Cup can "reveal the creativity, the ability to work together and to make Brazil an ever better nation," Coelho said. "That will motivate Brazil to unify all its forces."