Brazil needs to spend US$ 43 billion to prepare for 2014 FIFA World Cup

Brasil will need to spend BRL 100 billion (US$ 43 billion) on its infrastructure in preparation for the 2014 FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) World Cup, according to the Brazilian Association of Infrastructure and Basic Industry (ABDIB).

In a statement on the association's website, ABDIB vice president Ralph Lima Terra, said, "This is only a tentative estimate of the costs."

Preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup require expanding the energy, transportation, and telecommunications sectors alongside introducing special credit lines, tax incentives and increasing public-private partnerships, according to ABDIB.

Re-modeling 14 football stadia and construction four new ones is expected to cost US$ 1.1 billion, said the statement.

Complicating preparations is the current global financial crisis, said Mr Lima Terra. "[It] certainly makes it difficult but it does not make it an impractical event," explained Mr Lima Terra.

The biggest challenge, added Mr Lima Terra, was urban mobility, including intermodal transportation hubs between airports, rail networks and roads in those cities that will play host to the tournament.

At present the association is preparing a more detailed cost analysis of the money required to host the 2014 event. The findings should be released in February next year.

There are 18 cities currently competing to host the matches, including Goiânia, Belém, Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Campo Grande, Cuiabá, Curitiba, Florianópolis, Fortaleza, Maceió, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife/Olinda, Rio Branco, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and São Paulo.

FIFA will announce which cities have been selected in March 2009.