Monday 20 January 2020, 16:32

New Year review: The legacy of Brazil 2014

  • The Brazil 2014 Legacy Fund continues to help football grow

  • Majority of investment has gone into women's and youth football competitions

  • Gol do Brasil Project offers football and educational support to youngsters

2019 represented a milestone in terms of investments made with the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014™ Legacy Fund. A total of USD $6,892,000 was invested in four different areas, encompassing competitions, social projects, sports medicine, and physical infrastructure, with the latter to be built in those Brazilian states where FIFA World Cup matches were not played.

The project implementation is a partnership between FIFA and the CBF and is being monitored by one of the world’s leading financial and compliance firms, Ernst & Young.

Four new competitions, bringing to nine the total number financed by FIFA’s Legacy Fund

The majority of the investment has gone into youth and women's football competitions. Initially, four new championships were created, three of them men’s and one women’s: the U-17 Brasileirão (U-17 Brazilian Championship), the U-17 and U-20 Supercopa do Brasil (U-17 and U-20 Brazil Super Cup), and the U-18 Brasileirão Feminino (U-18 Women’s Brazilian Championship). These competitions are in addition to five other existing tournaments, which are also supported by the Legacy Fund: the U-17 and U-20 Copa do Brasil (U-17 and U-20 Brazil Cup), the U-20 Brasileirão (U-20 Brazilian Championship), the Brasileirão Feminino A1 (A1 Women’s Brazilian Championship) and the Brasileirão Feminino A2 (A2 Women’s Brazilian Championship).

Across the women's tournaments, 344 matches have been played, with the participation of 1,833 athletes from 54 clubs. With over 20,000 minutes of live broadcasts, the CBF reports that 67% of the games in these women's competitions were shown in real time. The result was an audience of more than 14.5 million spectators across the year.

The men’s youth competitions were no different. In total, 2,297 athletes from 62 clubs participated, with 408 matches played. The CBF reported that almost 80% of these matches were broadcasted live on TV or the Internet, which represents more than 28,000 minutes of live action. The combined audience reached about 13 million people. The final match of the U-17 Brasileirão between Flamengo and Corinthians was played in Cariacica in Espírito Santo state in front of a crowd of 17,000 fans, breaking the record for this age category in Brazil.

Gol do Brasil (Brazil Goal) Project

In the social sphere, the Gol do Brasil Project was launched to assist youngsters aged 6 to 17 years with football training and educational support. In 2019, the initiative premiered in two Brazilian state capitals: Belém in Pará state, and Recife in Pernambuco state. The initial events, which lasted three days at each venue, included the delivery of sports materials, as well as football festivals at the location where the activities were held.

In addition to the children and teenagers assisted by the project, Gol do Brasil also trains teachers to work with these age groups in the programme. 119 professionals have already obtained their S Licence through a partnership with the CBF Academy, aimed precisely at working with social projects.

Medical Symposium on Continuing Education

In September 2019, the FIFA World Cup Legacy Fund also financed the Medical Symposium on Continuing Education. For two days, 36 speakers lectured to an audience of 135 sports medicine professionals. The event was held during the Brasil Futebol Expo, Latin America's largest football fair.