Brazil: Welcoming the World

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Welcome to Brazil, a country that will soon welcome the world,

as it prepares to play host to the three

biggest sporting events on the planet.

He's going to win the gold!

Pele. Up comes Carlos Alberto on the right.

And it's four!

Pistorius gets it. Oh, my goodness!

Most countries would be delighted to simply stage either

a Football World Cup Finals, or an Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Well, Brazil now has the unique honour and responsibility

of staging all three events over the next four years.

I've come here to Brazil to learn more about this country's

unique relationship with sport,

discover more about how they intend to use this extraordinary scenery

as a unique backdrop to these three events,

but also to see what challenges the country faces.

One of the most intense bursts of international sport

begins with the World Cup in 18 months' time, with 12 host cities

ensuring matches will be played across the country.

From Brazil's Amazonian heartlands to its coastal resorts.

The tournament kicks off in Sao Paolo,

with the climax in Rio a month later. But it doesn't stop there.

Two years later, the city remains in the spotlight,

as it hosts the Olympics across four venue zones.

The Paralympics follows a month later.

Sport's samba years began with a tantalising taste

of what was to come at London 2012's closing ceremony.

But as Rio stamped its mark,

and joyfully took possession of the Olympic spirit, the sense was

that accompanying such pride and privilege was intense pressure.

The Olympic standard had been raised,

perhaps higher than ever before.

Jessica Ennis is the Olympic champion.

Moments like these ensured that, for many, London had pulled off

not just a happy and glorious Games, but arguably the greatest.

Amid an atmosphere of celebration and confidence,

British athletes produced their best performance of modern times.

While the biggest names in sport

delivered the iconic moments when it mattered most.

The champion becomes a legend!

Logistical obstacles were overcome by organisers

and, confronted by the toughest of acts to follow,

Brazil, it seemed, had a Herculean task on its hands.

Every four years, the International Olympic Committee arranges

a meeting between hosts of the Games just gone and those to come.

Never before, perhaps, has this official debrief, as it's known,

been more relevant. In November, those who oversaw London's triumph

travelled to Brazil to pass on some of the secrets of their success,

but the architect of the 2012 Games told me Rio has nothing to be afraid of.

Is it possible they could match London's Games?

Yes, absolutely it's possible, and they shouldn't be sitting there,

trying to compare themselves with London. It would've been

as ridiculous for us to be sitting there,

benchmarking everything we did in London

-with what we witnessed in Beijing.

-Could they beat it, then?

That should be their aspiration.

Each city is different from the other. The same, the countries.

I think London organised extraordinary Games.

If you remember about Beijing,

everybody said Beijing was extra, and London also had extra.

That we hope to do in our way, and also to be a very good Games.

Has London put pressure on Rio?

Always the good organisers put pressure,

but there's a good pressure, that bring us the responsibility,

to work, and to well prepare everything.

The 2016 Games have the potential to be the most visually stunning of all time,

with Brazil's City of Marvels making full use of its natural beauty.

Events taking place here in Copacabana include

open water swimming, sailing, beach volleyball and triathlon,

while rowing will be staged here on the city's lagoon.

The redeveloped Maracana Stadium, temple of Brazilian football,

will host the opening and closing ceremonies.

Track and field will take place here,

at another football stadium in the north of the city.

Unlike London, then, Rio has avoided any future worries

over what do with an expensive new athletics facility.

But the majority of the sporting action

will take place several miles away, on the city's outskirts.

Surrounded by Rio's iconic landscapes,

the Olympic Park is being built here on the site

of a former Formula One motor racing circuit

in the west of the city, Barra, next to a lagoon.

There's still plenty to do, as you can see,

but demolition work has now recently begun,

some of the venues already here, such as the gymnastics arena.

Barra will host more than half of the events at the 2016 Games,

including cycling, martial arts and aquatics,

but the project is still very much in the demolition stage.

Building work is a little more advanced here,

in what will be the athletes' village,

where 14,000 competitors will be housed.

As with the Olympic Park, there's an awful lot to do, and concerns about

the speed of progress are now being expressed at the very top.

Time is truly a precious commodity, and Rio, like London, must ensure

they maximise their remaining time,

in order to deliver to the high standard they have set themselves.

Certainly, Rio has to make sure they have all facilities in place and

apparently, there are some delays in the work

and they really will have to accelerate

to make sure that the venues are in place.

It's important for the test event, and for the whole preparation,

that the venues are ready on time.

-Is the IOC worried about that? Is that a concern?

-No.

We know they can achieve it, they just have to go the next speed.

Rio will see the long-awaited return of golf to the Olympics.

A new station for the venue is complete, but work on the course

is still to begin, due to a long legal dispute over this land.

Plans for the rugby and hockey venues are also yet to be finalised.

Not all of the 230 new construction projects

the city is spending around £13 billion on are late.

This state-of-the-art bus transit system,

part of an overhaul of the city's transport infrastructure,

is now operational,

but upgrades of rail links and airports are behind schedule,

and there's a chronic shortage of hotels.

I know they claim that they're on schedule,

but from having covered the last few Games and preparations,

it's quite clear they're a long way behind where London was at a similar stage.

I'd estimate anything between 18 months to two years,

so they have a lot of catching up to do in the next few years.

One man whose reputation is on the line is Eduardo Paes.

Rio's charismatic mayor seemed in confident mood, as he showed

foreign journalists around the Olympic Park building site recently,

but he admitted to me that he does have concerns.

A great challenge for the city's infrastructure.

I mean, the changes that you're going to do, as a legacy for the city.

So this is what worries me. But we are on time, things are going fine.

Obviously, when you do an event like that, when you transform completely a city,

when you have a certain day, a specific date to get things done,

obviously, it's something you have to worry all the time,

and pay attention, and follow all the dates.

But deadlines aren't the only thing standing in the way of organisers.

The Rio 2016 Olympics are not good news for everybody.

This is the small neighbourhood of Vila Autodromo.

Behind that wall is where the Olympic Park will be,

and it threatens this community's very existence.

These residents face forced expulsion,

because officials want the settlement removed to make way

for roadways around the Olympic Park that would cut through this favela.

The 3,000-strong community are refusing to go quietly,

and have resisted eviction by going to the courts.

TRANSLATION: The Games are a healthy thing.

Something any Brazilian should consider a healthy event.

It shouldn't be used to expropriate families.

I treat our governors as Robin Hoods, on the side of the rich.

The one from fiction took away from the rich to give to the poor.

Here, they do the opposite. After the Games,

they will build expensive houses in most of this area.

Poor people won't be able to live here.

In Rio, poor people are only useful to help the rich get even richer.

We need to stop this.

City official says this area suffers from unsanitary health conditions,

and have promised to move residents to low cost housing nearby,

but the dispute rumbles on.

It's going to be gold for David Weir and Great Britain.

Rio may face an uphill task matching London's success in the Olympics,

but that's nothing compared to the event that will follow a month later.

Reputations forged in Beijing hit new heights at the 2012 Paralympics.

The Games were the biggest and best in history,

exceeding expectations, with unprecedented ticket sales,

and producing a new generation of sporting stars.

The benchmark set for Rio, then, is a daunting one,

and the most powerful man in Paralympic sport told me that momentum must be maintained.

London is now the blueprint

for all Paralympic Summer Games moving forward

and I'm here this week to lay down the challenge to Rio

-to go far further than London did.

-How can they do that?

They can do it, because they can take so many of the aspects

of what London did, you know, the great number of spectators.

If we think the UK is sports mad, you only need to look here

at how sports mad Brazil is in Rio de Janeiro.

Expand on the way perceptions were changed in the UK,

and quite a number of other countries around the world,

to spread that to the whole of Latin America,

and to the world, through far more television coverage.

Efforts to match London on the track will begin with this man.

Alan Oliveira is known as the Blades from Brazil.

The country's most famous Paralympian lost both legs

after contracting an infection shortly after birth.

But having learned to run on wooden prosthetics,

his reputation as an athlete grew fast, and then came London.

And Oliveira comes through to take it on the line.

Oliveira caused one of the greatest upsets in Paralympic history

by beating better-known rival Oscar Pistorius

in the final of the Men's 200 metres.

The sprinter now has his heart set on his home Games here in Rio,

but he remains in awe of London.

TRANSLATION: The Paralympics in London

were as grand as the Olympics, and left a legacy.

The two Games now have the same importance.

I congratulate London for that,

and hope the same will happen in Brazil in 2016.

Oliveira is all set to become one of the faces of the Rio 2016 Games.

The wider question is whether or not his kind of success and celebrity

can bring about a similar changing of attitudes here in Brazil,

as London 2012 achieved.

In Brazil, that work's begun with a doubling of investment

in facilities like this, an institute for the blind

here in Rio that's produced several Paralympians.

Brazil finished seventh in the 2012 Paralympic medal table,

some achievement, given the 22nd place

their able-bodied counterparts could only manage in the Olympics.

But as hosts, they want more. The aim to replicate

the kind of success British athletes enjoyed last year.

The Paralympics in London is very good.

We know we want the Paralympics here,

in Rio de Janeiro, the same.

But to truly match London, many feel that progress must be made

away from the sporting area and in Brazilian society at large.

Whereas the London Games brought about a change in attitude,

the sense is that the Rio Paralympics must reach into areas like this,

and bring about an improvement in facilities and opportunities,

as well as in perceptions.

TRANSLATION: Rio de Janeiro has very little accessibility.

There's an extreme lack of concern about people with disabilities.

Here in the Complexo da Mare, Rio's biggest favela,

there are large numbers of people with some kind of disability,

but they suffer from an extreme lack of urban infrastructure

and of Government support.

Let's hope the Paralympics can help in that sense,

but so far, nothing has changed.

In the UK, you have a more balanced society. People understand

the rights of the person with a disability better than in Brazil.

But I think it's changing, and I think the Games can be a catalyst for change.

It's not that everything will be perfect by 2016, but the change...

it has to be until 2016, and 2020, 2024.

I think it will be a catalyst. We still have a lot to do.

The challenge of making Paralympic and Olympic Games relevant

to Rio's tougher neighbourhoods is a difficult one.

There's been a huge effort to bring law and order

to these formerly gang-controlled favelas, but many here question

whether the vast amounts of money being spent on 2016

will really benefit Rio's poor.

TRANSLATION: This event could be a good initiative,

if a legacy to local people was effective.

But this is not what's happening.

40% of the new facilities that are being built are in the richer part of the city.

The problem isn't the amount of investment.

It's how the money is being directed.

The Pan-American Games, which Rio hosted in 2007,

cost six times more than was forecast and no legacy was left for the city.

Our fear is that this now happens with the Olympics.

Anybody that's here for the first time,

I think, are shocked by some of the extreme poverty they see.

You see it from the moment you leave the airport.

And I think that's going to be one of the great challenges they've got,

justifying all the money they're spending

on the Olympics and the World Cup

you know, at the expense of economic development for the poorer people.

I think that's going to be a big challenge.

There are lots of people still who live in impoverished areas.

What will you do to make sure they're part of these Games?

I would say they are the ones that are taking the most from the Games.

Because all the public money that we're putting in the Games

for infrastructure, transportation, mobility,

infrastructure of the city,

renovation of poor areas, renovation of favelas.

Rio is a very mixed city. I mean, we don't have...

You see rich and poor everywhere. I mean, Brazil is doing much better.

We know we've still got a long way to go.

And we don't hide our problems. They are everywhere.

It's not only on a certain side of the city.

You see the problems, you see the poor and the rich mix together

and that's what we like in our city, we want more mix to happen.

But away from such issues, when it comes to a sporting legacy,

it seems clear that Brazil has a golden opportunity.

Athletes like Alan Oliveira could provide the country with a new breed

of sporting hero, very different from the type it's used to.

COMMENTATOR: Great goal, a beauty!

WHISTLE BLOWS

Everywhere you look in Brazil, there's football.

It's more than a sport here, it's a way of life and national passion.

Nowhere is this enthusiasm more obvious

than here at Rio club Fluminense, newly-crowned league champions,

and, among the fans, it's obvious that the 2016 Games

are in danger of becoming something of an afterthought.

I think, for Brazilian people,

the World Cup of football is bigger than the Olympic Games.

Soccer is so much important than all these sports in the world,

so whatever, Olympic Games!

We're all getting together to cheer for both of them.

What's bigger, the Olympics or the World Cup?

I think the World Cup, because Brazil is more stronger

in the World Cup than the Olympic Games.

So much football, passion, it's sort of overshadowing the Olympics.

-Is that a problem?

-Yes, football here, as in the UK, it's a religion.

You have full stadiums and heroes all the time.

But we need to make a difference between what soccer represents

and what the Olympic sports represent.

I think we are doing this very well.

COMMENTATOR: Ah, this is great stuff.

They're taking it in turns to give an exhibition.

Jairzinho, number seven.

Pele. Up comes Carlos Alberto on the right.

And it's four!

Some of football's greatest ever moments have been provided

by a country in love with the sport.

And now those who have helped Brazil master the game

are relishing the chance to be World Cup hosts for a second time.

Football is a religion for us,

for Brazilians. We have very good football, very good players.

We have the chance, the opportunity to make a World Cup in our country.

So everybody, all the Brazilian people, believe we'll make...

People say, "We're going to make the best World Cup ever."

And what will make this World Cup here in Brazil so special?

TRANSLATION: I hope Brazil win, but most important of all

is the legacy that will be left for our people,

material and immaterial. It will be a joy.

Brazil is already a developing country, the fifth world economy.

And a victory such as that one, oh, my God, we'll become a world power.

A match in Sao Paulo between one of the most popular clubs in Brazil,

Corinthians, and local rivals Santos.

With the Brazilian league title already decided,

this end-of-season match could have been a dull and lifeless affair.

But the atmosphere here is as good and as passionate

as anything you'd experience anywhere in the world.

And it's all proof that the World Cup here in Brazil

is a tantalising prospect.

Santos! Santos!

The fervour and excitement that surrounds the sport here

promises to make the World Cup a special experience,

not just for fans, but for those taking part.

Is it the ultimate sporting event, potentially?

Yeah, I'd like to think it is, really.

I don't think there will be many other countries I could name

where I'd rather go to for a World Cup.

As you say, England of course would be the number one choice.

But afterwards Brazil's right up there.

I was quite lucky, I had one in America, that was interesting,

because it was an embryonic American football country at the time,

or soccer country, as they call it, but no, Brazil will be great.

Everyone wants to play football,

everyone talks about football, live about football.

And it will be great, er...

to see a World Cup here for the people, for everything.

As well as staging the opening and closing ceremonies of both

the Olympics and Paralympics, the vast Maracana Stadium,

the iconic spiritual home of Brazilian football,

will play host to the World Cup in two years' time.

It's undergoing a facelift at the moment, and is expected to be ready

early next year, but as you can see, there's an awful lot to do.

This is one of six new, all-renovated World Cup stadia

that must also be ready to host the Confederations Cup in June,

two of which, in the cities of Belo Horizonte and Fortaleza,

have now been completed, but concerns remain.

FIFA Secretary General, Jerome Valcke,

has caused controversy by claiming organisers need to speed up,

amid warnings over the pace of preparations.

The second most powerful man in world football

was back in Rio in November, inspecting progress at the Maracana,

and he told me he wants pressure maintained.

You're in the implementation phase,

you are in the executive phase now of the World Cup.

There is no more time to think, there is only time to act

and to make sure that, whenever you have the feeling that these things

are not perfectly built, you have to find why it's not perfectly built

and how to make it stronger, so that's where we are.

Some here believe precious time has been wasted.

When, in October 2007, Brazil came out of the envelope,

they had done nothing.

Even though they knew, since March 2003,

Brazil knew that it would be staging the World Cup.

But when Brazil came out of the envelope,

no decisions had been made about choosing the host cities.

In fact, that was pushed to FIFA.

So we didn't get a decision on host cities until the end of May 2009.

So that's years wasted.

I think the stadiums will be ready. No doubt about that.

Airport capacity, well, this is the Achilles heel of 2014.

I think there will be problems. In general, though,

I think it's a World Cup which will be greatly enjoyed

by the thousands who travel here and the billions who watch on television.

If I was a Brazilian taxpayer, I wouldn't be quite so happy, though.

Because things like urban mobility projects,

which are the biggest legacy for society,

they're being slowly cut and scaled back.

As one of the greatest strikers in Brazil's history,

Ronaldo knows what it takes to win a World Cup.

Now, as the public face of the tournament's organising committee,

this living legend's job is to help deliver one.

And he and his new team-mates are confident.

TRANSLATION: I believe Brazil lives football

like no other country in the world.

We are working to make the best organisation of all time.

Therefore, I believe that's what we'll do.

With the joy of our people, and their hospitality,

it'll be the best World Cup.

It's possible, we have enough time. We have a lot of things to do.

It is a challenge, because Maracana's not so easy,

it is a huge stadium, more than 70,000.

But we are confident, because we have a team,

a technical team that say they will be ready.

But if Brazil's under pressure to stage the event well,

it's nothing like the pressure to deliver the trophy for a sixth time.

The World Cup was last staged here in 1950,

the hosts losing the final match against Uruguay.

COMMENTATOR: Now they have a chance.

Hulk, from the benefit of a bounce, onto the right foot...

He's breathed new life into this Olympic final of 2012!

It's now up to the current generation of stars to make amends,

but having lost the gold medal match in London at the 2012 Olympics,

this is a young team struggling to meet the highest of expectations.

Brazil fans in Rio watch their team take on arch-rivals Argentina.

It may just be a friendly, but the national team manager was dismissed

in the wake of this performance and the supporters are in no doubt.

Brazil simply must win their own World Cup.

-I think we will.

-Do they have to win?

-I mean, they have to.

If they don't win for the team, they're going to win by the fans.

It's a lot of pressure.

We are really a little nervous, you know?

We're not, er, so confident in the team.

Having sacked his coach, the head of the Brazilian Football Federation

turned up at November's Soccerex Business of Football event in Rio.

These chaotic scenes showed the unique scrutiny

those who run the game here are under as World Cup fever takes hold.

But some remain positive.

I believe they have an interesting generation coming through,

and I certainly wouldn't write them off.

I would be very surprised if they're not in the last four.

They will need extraordinary mental strength.

I don't believe there's been a team in history that has put up

with the pressure that Brazil will have in this next World Cup.

I had the honour and privilege of knowing some of the 1950 team,

and the coach from 1950. And they never forgot,

they were never allowed to forget losing in the final game to Uruguay.

Back then, there were 50 million Brazilians piling on the pressure.

In 2014, there will be 200 million.

So the pressure increases four fold, and even more,

bearing in mind the 24/7 intrusive modern media.

So the pressure on that team will be extraordinary.

They will need mental strength, they will need

a tactical definition of play that the new coach will have to implant.

But there's enough raw material to work with

that makes me believe they're certainly last four material.

Is it almost unthinkable that Brazil don't win or don't get to the final?

Is that almost the sort of minimum requirement for your own World Cup?

This is football. We never know before starting the game,

before starting the competition, who is going to be the winner.

We hope and we believe that our team will be at least in the semi-final.

If not, what can you do? What can you do? Nothing.

As the build up to both the World Cup and then the 2016 Games intensifies,

what seems clear is that Brazilians are determined to have a good time.

Another weekend, another party on Copacabana Beach.

Despite uncertainties over readiness and legacy,

what's guaranteed here is flair, fun and flamboyance.

Holding these events back-to-back is a unique challenge,

but also an expression of Brazilian pride

at the nation's elevation on the world stage.

The perfect symbol of a country on the up.

For the next four years at least,

Brazil will become the undisputed capital of the sporting world.

It could be a triumph, it could be chaotic.

But what is certain is that it will look visually stunning,

it'll have a unique flavour

and there appears to be a great will for Brazil to succeed.

If they pull it off, it could just provide

a sporting carnival for the entire world.

COMMENTATOR: Pele.

Goal!

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