FIFA to blame for some delays claims Brazilian Sports Minister

July 28 – FIFA are to blame for some of the problems that Brazil is now experiencing in its build-up to the 2014 World Cup, the country’s Sports Minister Orlando Silva (pictured left) claimed today.

The world governing had publicly criticised preparations in May, saying ”it is amazing how Brazil is already late” and that a number of stadium projects were facing “red lights already”.

But Silva angrily hit back today, promising that things would soon be back on track and that FIFA needed to take some of the responsibility for the problems.

He said: ”These are the opinions of those who ignore the reality of the country.

“FIFA will have to do its part.

“Because projects for the stadiums were approved only this May, and you could not start work on the stadiums without the projects having been approved.”

A recent report published in Brazil outlined the delays and warned that construction in some key areas, such as airports, may not be completed in time.

Silva said the lack of progress in building a stadium in Sao Paulo - Latin America’s largest city - is the biggest worry for organisers.

He said: ”Sao Paulo is the only bottleneck in preparing for 2014 World Cup because the other 11 cities are preparing at a very good pace.”

Sao Paulo’s Morumbi Stadium was dropped from the original project earlier this year after FIFA said there were not enough financial guarantees for its renovation.

Since then, officials have struggled to find an alternative that would keep Sao Paulo as one of the 12 host cities.

There was a proposal to build a completely new stadium, which could later be used by Corinthians, but city officials have said they would not use public funds to construct a new venue.

Silva said the Brazilian bank, BNDES, had opened a $2.7 billion (£1.7 billion) line of financing for the renovation or construction of stadiums, with a credit limit of $226 million (£145 million) for each project.

Earlier this month, the Brazilian Government said it would invest nearly $3 billion (£1.9 billion) to renovate and expand airports, and guarantee about $400 million (£256 million) to upgrade ports.