FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke has insisted their must be patience when assessing Brazil’s World Cup legacy.
Many have suggested that the tournament is too expensive and will not benefit Brazil long-term.
Valcke, however, disagrees and believes both football and the host cities will reap the rewards of the World Cup in time.
“You cannot talk about the legacy at or right after the World Cup,” he insisted to FIFA.com. “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. 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.”
