Brazil’s World Cup Will Depend Entirely On Its Airports

...and if you’ve flown to Brazil lately, you’ll understand why they’re already freaking out:

It’s official. Brazil’s top three priorities ahead of the 2014 World Cup are airports, airports and airports. The head of Brazil’s organising committee told reporters in South Africa on Thursday that his country had to get a move on and upgrade its transport infrastructure in time for the 2014 competition.

“The three main priorities we have are airports, airports, airports,” said Ricardo Teixeira, the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation. Brazil plans to play games in 12 stadiums in 2014, more than in past tournaments because so many Brazilian cities were desperate to get involved in the prestigious competition.

But most of the host cities have airports that are too old and too small to cope with the estimated 600,000 fans who will fly to football’s spiritual home to take part in the month-long jamboree. Airports are more important for the 2014 competition than previous tournaments because distances between the host cities are massive and the country’s motorways are often atrocious.