Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht has already been named the winner of the World Cup by Bloomberg in this insightful article. Turns out the company is one of the biggest contributors to Dilma Rousseff’s worker’s party. Want some irony? Check this:
A banner emblazoned with the company’s logo next to the words “mission accomplished” slung from the stands, even as cranes towered overhead and the wind blew back tarps hiding pockets of unfinished construction.
Did someone say “Halliburton”?
Even more interesting is the video embedded in the article. In it, Prof. Elton Fernandes from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro answers the $12 billion question: “Why isn’t Brazil ready for the World Cup?” Here’s what he says: We are incompetent. Everybody knows that. We have no planning in the country. Why should we plan for the world cup?
O boy. BTW, only 3 out of the 12 stadiums were finished on time. The roof on at least one of the stadiums will have to wait for after the World Cup. And here’s the press release for the online camera with which we were supposed to watch how the stadiums were being constructed. Note: the link goes to page that doesn’t exist.