Sustainability dilemmas for Brazil in hosting mega-sport events

This chapter investigates the main pressures and challenges faced by Brazil as a host nation in the planning of a sustainable event management during the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympic Games. The main arguments of this chapter are the following: governance issues in relation to accountability underpin the implementation of other sustainability principles, particularly in the context of developing countries; governing sporting bodies and the government of Brazil focus excessively on matters of infrastructure for the event at the expense of greater economic, social and environmental issues; and the track record of Brazil and its hosting of large sporting events leads to a conclusion that there are significant lessons still to be learned if, indeed, the events are to live up to their green promises.