MAJOR EVENTS
Fans inside the 58,170-capacity Mineirão stadium in Belo Horizonte - the venue for the infamous Brazil v. Germany (1-7) game FRONT ROW SEAT
Charles Cooke, associate principal at sports architects Populous put down his tools and travelled to Brazil this summer to experience the World Cup from a fan’s perspective. Now back in London he reflects on the tournament, the atmosphere and the management of the event and its facilities
M 34
y dad and I have been talking about going to a World Cup for a number of years. Brazil, with its reputation as the soul of
football, was an opportunity too good to miss. We spent two years planning the trip. The itinerary was determined by the tickets we could secure in the FIFA ballot and via the Football Association (FA), where supporters have to earn the right to purchase tickets through support of the England team over time. In the end, we were incredibly lucky
to get tickets for five group matches, including two of England’s fixtures and Brazil’s Round of 16 game. Five of the matches were in Belo Horizonte and one in Sao Paulo. Sadly our trip did not include a visit to Arena das Dunas in Natal, which was designed by my colleagues at Populous. By the time we returned home, we’d flown 17,200 miles and met hundreds of international football fans and even more welcoming Brazilians.
OPENING MATCH Brazil shuts down when the “seleção” plays and fans pile into the bars. Arriving in Belo Horizonte, the pre-match build-up was well underway. The Brazilians like to make a din in the run-up to a Brazil game and use anything at their disposal – car horns, whistles, any type of airhorns that can be blown, fire crackers and fireworks. The streets had military police and army personnel on every corner,
with helicopters hovering overhead monitoring any small protests that took place at the beginning of the tournament. In short, the atmosphere was electric. We squeezed into a local bar and, being
the first of the overseas fans to arrive, our flag was soon out. By the time we headed home, most of the bar had been photographed by the St George cross.
MATCHDAY The new rapid bus transport route from the city to Pampulha – the district where the stadium is located – was only partly built by the time the first match kicked off. Special buses ran from the city centre to the stadium; not from the central bus station or a local landmark but from a seemingly random street – this is Brazil after all! Some fans worked out the local bus
The carnival atmosphere outside the arena
services, plenty paid for a cab, other fans got accommodation close to the stadium (and complained there was no nightlife). In the end, 57,174 people managed to get to the matches by one means or another.
sportsmanagement.co.uk issue 3 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
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