By Paul Kennedy
Managing Editor
Soccer America
CAMP INSIDER
No pig left unturned
The Swiss lake town of Weggis (population: 4,000) pulled out all the stops in preparing for the arrival of the Brazil national team.
Preparations included the construction of a 5,000-seat practice facility, an indoor field, a gym and a media center. One last step was the removal of around 300 pigs from a farm overlooking the stadium. It was the idea of farmer Alfred Stoecklj.
"Some Brazilian officials had already been here inspecting the site,” Stoecklj told Reuters. “They didn't say anything about the farm, but I knew that the stench can be pretty bad when the wind is blowing, and I didn't want some tabloid paper writing that Brazil's World Cup preparations had been damaged by the smell of my pigs."
Stoecklj was paid 9,000 Swiss francs ($7,350) to remove the pigs -- a small sum compared the millions being spent on Camp Brazil.
A firm paid the Brazilian federation a fee of $1.2 million to host the five-time world champions in Weggis. On top of that were expenses to build the training center, house and transport the Brazilian delegation and pay for security.
Scalpers were getting as much as $200 for tickets to Brazil’s training sessions. Television rights to the 14 training sessions were sold to networks in more than 100 countries
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