Priming Host City Physical Legacy Plans: The Bidding Chronicles of Brazil’s Derailed Sporting Event Infrastructure Projects

This paper presents a case study of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro to explore infrastructure development and physical legacies connected to the planning, bidding and staging of mega sporting events. Primary data was collected in Cuiabá in two phases during the 2014 World Cup and after the event in 2015. This entailed participant observation, structured observation, document analysis and 15 semi-structured interviews with the local population, as well as current and former government and stadium employees. Following the Rio 2016 Olympic Games primary data was collected from Porto Maravilha, Rio de Janeiro. In January 2018, 15 semi-structured interviews were undertaken with tour operators and cultural businesses. Significant evidence indicates the ineffectiveness of urban and rural infrastructure development and facility improvements, delays and cancellations in infrastructure programmes, stadiums and venues overshooting their original costs and budgetary requirements, and controversial targeted transport interventions. Practical managerial recommendations and strategies are offered to aid the implementation, management and maintenance of host city infrastructure during the planning, bidding, hosting and post-sporting event phases.