Deadly accident Itaquerao stadium in Sao Paulo

This is the stadium that is set to host the opening match of the 2014 World Cup between Brazil and one of the teams drawn into its group. Apparently a large crane collapsed, taking with it part of the seat covering, which took the lives of three workers. It is still unclear what happened exactly.

See reports here, here, and here. Pictures below this post.

I am not sure if this was a "genuine" accident or the result of poor worker safety. Certainly the labor disputes in Brazil have been making headlines for close to two years now, and with FIFA deadlines for venue completion fast approaching (end of December) there is enormous pressure on the organization to get stuff done quickly... so it would not surprise me if worker safety was compromised.

That would be damn unfortunate and extremely upsetting. I am ridiculously excited for this World Cup, but I'll bet that so were the three guys whose wives' and children's lives just changed forever. If foul play or sloppiness were involved, and if those were ultimately caused by corporate interests, it will put a significant moral damper on the World Cup.

Of course, similar debates can be had about the vast majority of large public events, from music concerts to political rallies, so I certainly would not endorse the ridiculous cries of anti-sports fanatics who want to shut the whole thing down forever. But it does remain unsettling and I hope that it continues to be talked about.

This February, Sochi will be a taste of what a majorly contested sporting event looks like. That has not happened since Munich 1972, and even then that was different. I look forward to that debate (though not to those radicals who cry for boycotts because they have this fantasy that sports culture is an enemy of justice and progress; they sure will be unbearable come February, but I am sure that I am just as unbearable in their eyes).