Brazil’s World Cup: the plot thickens
You have to wonder what’s going on at the Brazilian Football Confederation, the body that runs the game in the land of Pelé.
Ricardo Teixeira, the confederation’s head, has named former striking star Bebeto to the committee charged with organizing the 2014 World Cup. Bebeto will line up alongside another former World Cup winner, Ronaldo. Continue reading »
Brazil World Cup: trouble brewing
For many football fans the world over, half the fun of match day is having a beer with your mates.
In Brazil, that pleasure takes place some time before and after the action because alcohol may not be sold inside grounds. But with the football World Cup just around the corner, FIFA is putting its foot down and insisting the host of the 2014 championship do right by its sponsors and sell beers made by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s biggest brewer, inside the 12 participating stadiums. Continue reading »
Irresistible pull of Brazil’s new money
“Recession? What recession?” asked Suzy Menkes, fashion editor of the International Herald Tribune at the newspaper’s annual Hot Luxury conference in São Paulo this week. “You don’t see too many closed stores (here) as you see in Europe and America.” Continue reading »
Brazil: fitness chains bulk up
Nowhere is looking good as important as in Brazil. Whether it be the media images of supermodels like Gisele Bundchen, the sexy clothes and tiny bikinis, or the hot and sultry climate that serves as an open invitation to strip off, the body beautiful (and not so beautiful) is constantly on display.
That’s a powerful incentive to stay in shape and gyms are taking note. Over the last 10 years, bigger and more professional gyms have muscled in on the smaller neighbourhood academias, as they are known here. Continue reading »
Brazil: bring your own electrician
One of the big mysteries of traveling in Brazil is wondering whether you’ll be able to use your computer, hairdryer or shaver when you arrive.
Depending on where you go, the voltage can be 100V or 127V or 220V and there are at least 12 different kind of plugs and sockets. (And that’s not including the baffling reluctance of airports, restaurants and hotel rooms to put sockets in their walls.) Continue reading »
[Brics and mortar]: Brazil’s slums recycle
Beyondbrics kicks off the second of our mid-year specials with brics and mortar. We’ll be looking at everything from toxic counter tops in China, exploding manholes in Brazil, and missing bricks on the side walks of Moscow, to why Muslims are reconsidering the high-rise life.
Andrew Downie starts the series with his piece on a program to introduce recycling into Rio de Janiero’s infamous favelas below the break. Continue reading »
Venezuela’s vinotinto – out, but not down
For Venezuelan football fans, the dream of finally winning the Copa America, the regional football competition for national teams, faded away on Wednesday night when their team was knocked out by Paraguay – which will meet Uruguay in Sunday’s final without having won a single game (it got through the knock-out rounds entirely on penalty shoot-outs).
But the team’s sponsors will still have been delighted at seeing Venezuela reach the semi-finals for the first time. Continue reading »
Fifa picks stadium for 2014 World Cup
After three years of indecision, wrangling and petty infighting, Fifa looks set to bite the bullet and declare that the opening match of the 2014 World Cup will take place at the Itaquerão stadium, the still-to-be-built home of Corinthians, São Paulo’s biggest club.
It may be a bit late but the deal, as announced, looks tidy. But big question remain about how much the stadium will really cost – and when it will be ready for use. Continue reading »
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