By Samindra Kunti
May 3 – The Brazilian FA, the CBF, has confirmed that Brazil will play their World Cup qualifier against Colombia in September in Manaus.
The Arena Amazonia in the jungle city of Manaus cost $300 million to construct and hosted several matches during the 2014 World Cup. It will host six matches in the group stages of the Rio 2016 Olympic games before the crucial World Cup qualifier.
The hosting agreements throw a lifeline to the Manaus stadium. Manaus doesn’t boast a topflight club in the Brazilian leagues and its remote location has made other commercial exploitation of the stadium.
After the World Cup the stadium became a white elephant together with World Cup venues in Natal, Brasilia, Recife and Cuiaba.
The reasons for shifting the game so far east, away from Brazil’s traditional Rio-Sao Paulo football axis are twofold. The state government of Amazonas had requested the CBF to host the game to support the ailing stadium. While Brazil’s technical staff, including coach Carlos Dunga and technical director Gilmar Rinaldi, approved the decision as logistical commonsense with Brazil playing Ecuador in Quito a few days earlier.
Brazil have participated in every World Cup to date, but currently only have nine points in South America’s World Cup qualifying marathon. The Brazilians sit in sixth spot, just outside the qualifying places for Russia 2018.
The Seleção will go into the fixtures in September under pressure. In the summer Brazil has a busy national team schedule, participating in the centenary Copa America in the United States and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro.
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