By Ramesh Mathew/Staff Reporter
Brazil is hopeful that the 2016 Rio Olympics will receive strong patronage from people living in this region, particularly Qatar.
Expressing confidence about the success of the Games, a senior official from the South American country who arrived in Doha on Tuesday told Gulf Times that Brazil’s growing bilateral ties with the GCC states and other countries in the Middle East would not only contribute to the success of the event, but also help them adopt some of the models being developed by his country as part of its preparations.
Joel Sampaio, executive assistant to the Brazilian minister of external relations, who was in Qatar as part of his tour of the region, said preparations for the 2016 Games are in full swing and his country has set aside a budget of more than $12bn for the event.
“Out of this, more than $8bn is for improving the country’s infrastructure, taking into account its growing requirements in the coming years,” said
Sampaio.
Sampaio, who started his GCC tour from Qatar, is also scheduled to visit the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman.
While replying to a query, the Brazilian official said close to 35% of the investment for the Games has come from the private sector. In fact, private participation is close to 50% in many projects being developed as part of the event.
“For instance, the Olympic Village being built as part of the Games is being developed by two prominent real estate groups,” he said, explaining that the owners would take over the properties soon after the Games, slated to be held in August 2016.
Sampaio said Brazil has learnt a number of useful lessons from its hosting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and it is being ensured that visitors do not have anything to complain about regarding the upcoming Olympics in his country.
The event will be held at venues located across four clusters, including Maracan?. “Both the opening and closing of the event will take place in Maracan?, which is familiar to football fans,” he said.
Recalling that over 1mn people visited Brazil to watch last year’s football World Cup, Sampaio said more than half a million of them were from the rest of the Latin American region. “Patronage from visitors in the Middle East was also good and a much greater patronage is expected for the Games next year,” he added.
The modalities for accreditation of journalists to cover the Games will start towards the end of this year and special arrangements will also be made to issue visas to scribes who are not
accredited, said the official.
Further, Sampaio said in view of the growing importance of sustainable development, his country’s sports administrators were developing some of the Olympics venues with a clear plan to dismantle them in such a manner that they could be used as schools after the Games.
“Qatar, which is developing a number of sport venues as part of its preparations for events like the 2022 FIFA World Cup, could also emulate Brazil’s model for its projects as it is laying a lot of stress on sustainable development these days,” said Sampaio.
Brazilian embassy chargé d’affaires and minister (counsellor) Joao C Belloc and first secretary Fabio Meneghetti Chaves were also present.
Sampaio, flanked by Chaves (left) and Belloc. PICTURE: Jayaram
