FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke has called for
patience before assessing the impact of the World Cup in Brazil.
The governing body have come in for criticism ahead of
next month's World Cup with many believing the tournament - estimated to have
cost $11billion - will not provide any long-term benefits to a country that is
struggling economically.
Alarmingly, an eighth worker lost their life in the
Brazilian city of Cuiaba on Thursday as the nation rushes to be ready for the
opening game on June 12.
But speaking to FIFA.com, Valcke believes football's
showpiece event will benefit Brazil down the track, despite anti-World Cup
campaigners claiming the money would have been better spent on improving the
country's health and education.
"You cannot talk about the legacy at or right after
the World Cup," he said. "You need few years to see what the legacy
is.
"There are legacies at different levels. The first
level is the football infrastructure. They will have a level of stadiums and
training camps which are amazing. They have better facilities to play football
than before.
"The stadiums that were used at the Confederations
Cup welcome more fans, because the structure is nicer and have a higher
standard of international football.
"Then you have the different cities. Those cities
will have changed from the times when they received the organisation of the
World Cup, to the time when they will have the games played in the city. There
is a different level or urban mobility, accommodation and road network."
Valcke added: "In South Africa, the lives of the
people in some of the cities have changed because those cities have invested a
lot of money to change their infrastructure."
Valcke also leapt to the defence of FIFA, who have
continued to be targeted by protestors ahead of the World Cup.
"When people are saying that we have put something
into the World Cup that they could use for other projects, they're wrong,"
said the 54-year-old.
"When a country bids for a World Cup, it's not
against the interest of the country. It is for the interest of the country.
"The World Cup is a way to speed up a number of
investments in a country. It is easy to criticise FIFA, it's easy to use the
Confederations Cup or World Cup to organise demonstrations.
"But the target is wrong if the target is that FIFA
are the reason for what's happening in a country.
"If a country is bidding for a World Cup, it's with
the idea of developing the country and not with the idea of destroying the
country."
Culled from Soccerway
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