2014 World Cup: The Waste of Public Money Started

Months ago, I mentioned the danger of the 2014 World Cup turn into drain for public money. The final destination: the pockets of corrupt Brazilian politicians. It seems the party just got started.

Blog do Jose Cruz, which investigates the politics of sports, showed yesterday that the city of Cuiaba, capital of Mato Grosso and one of the 12 hosts, already broke the rules to avoid the waste of tax payers’ money. According to Cruz, the state hired without a bidding process the executive project for the construction of the municipal state where the matches will take place. The price? R$ 14 million ( about US$ 7 million).

The state also hired without any bidding process the “technical consultancy” that will cost R$400 thousand (about US$200 thousand). The stadium is expected to cost R$ 400 million.

The excuse given: lack of time.

The blog cites the president of the Accountability Office of Mato Grosso, Antônio Joaquim, as the source of the information.

It is never enough to remind you that 1)the mediocre 2007 Pan-American games held in Rio had a final cost 10 times bigger than the proposed budget; 2) The Federal Accountability Office took two years to produce a final report; 3) The report pointed to many questionable practices; 4)Nothing happened to those wasting that money.

And it is never enough to stress the importance of you, dear non-Brazilian football fan. Brazil seems not to resist to international scrutiny. This blog will keep following closely.

Related posts:

1. The Politics of the 2014 World Cup Just Got Started
2. 2014 World Cup: Host Cities Miss the First Deadline
3. How Much Money Brazilian Clubs Made in 2008
4. World Champions Try to Raise Money with Retro Jerseys
5. First Corruption Scandal Involving People from the 2014 WC