Brazil counts down 1,000 days to the 2014 World Cup
September 19, 2011
Belo Horizonte, Brazil, is due to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and September 17 marked 1,000 days until the games begin. The countdown is not just for avid football fans, but for the people and businesses of Brazil to get to work on the porjects they have planned to prepare the city for the international event, including 12 stadiums, according to the AFP. The government of Brazil recently announced that nine of the 12 stadiums that will be renovated or built will be ready by December 2012.
"To be honest, there is still a lot of work to be done, which is normal with 1,000 days ahead of the kick-off on 12 June 2014," FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke told the news source. "It is essential that we must move quickly now and work closely with the authorities and host cities to make it all happen, and we are not talking about stadiums only, but also about the infrastructure around such as airport capacities, public transport, level of accommodation to make this FIFA World Cup a memorable experience for teams and fans."
However, the government still needs $11 billion to improve roads, hotels and security. People can use international calling cards to make calls to Brazil to talk to their friends and family about the developments as the games grow nearer.