A video has been making the rounds on social media, which showed a rickety staircase installed just outside Brazil's landmark soccer venue, the Maracanã Stadium. The stadium, which once held 199,854 people for the 1950 FIFA World Cup final, is raising concerns on how FIFA oversees the safety standards of its venues for this year's World Cup in the country.
The staircase showed in the video would purportedly lead fans from the stadium to the metro stop nearby, and appears to be needing immediate reinforcement to avoid a catastrophe. The footage, which was taken and uploaded shortly after Argentina trampled Bosnia-Herzegovina on Sunday, showed how the staircase rocks evidently under the stress and the weight of thousands of football fans ascending simultaneously, Yahoo Sports said.
A Mexican systems engineer who had used the stairs on Sunday, Jorge Martinez, said, "When people walk on it the wood moves, so with thousands of people walking up there, there could be an accident."
Following the release of the footage, the Brazilian government immediately issued a statement over the matter, and insisted that the staircase underwent inspection, reinforced with the necessary materials, and was re-inspected again on Tuesday to ensure the safety of the World Cup fans.
Although there is vast improvement to the staircase after the Brazilian government's action, many are still questioning how the government had resolved the problem, Yahoo Sports said. It is worth to note that there is a separate entrance for VIPs that is made entirely out of durable concrete.
Electrician Juan Miranda of Chile is still concerned about the once rickety staircase. He said, "You can see that VIP ramp and it's real good, but over here where almost everyone goes in, the entrance and exit is defective and unsafe. There isn't even any information about its capacity. Tomorrow there's going to be a sea of people here so I'm going to arrive early to be safe."The rickety staircase is another evidence that Brazil may not be as equipped as it had been promoting to handle such a global event. But a more intriguing question is how FIFA has allowed such fixture issues to continue days or even hours before a scheduled match.
Last month, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke has confirmed that additional measures are in place for temporary locations and associated facilities to ensure fan safety. He said, "It is vital that all facilities will be tested under full match conditions in the temporary sections and associated facilities."
