By David Gold
March 14 – Time to organise the dates and venues for the 2013 Confederations Cup is running out according to FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke, who says that the 2010 World Cup in South Africa was easier to organise than the 2014 tournament in Brazil.
The tournament is used as a dress rehearsal for World Cup hosts, and FIFA want all stadiums to host games in 2014 ready by the time the Confederations Cup begins.
The FIFA general secretary said that there are still concerns over the Itaquera, the proposed new Corinthians stadium to be built in Sao Paolo, for which funding has still yet to be agreed, whilst there is doubt over whether the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro will be ready for the 2013 tournament.
“The roof that has to be built at the Maracana stadium has also caused some delays and this hasn’t helped us get a full picture of which stadiums we will use for the Confederations Cup and the World Cup,” he said.
“We are also still waiting on the structure of the stadia that will be used in the 2013 Confederations Cup and in the World Cup itself.”
The cost of the redevelopment of the Maracana is also causing concern, with costs escalating and time running out “to figure out whether the stadiums that are being proposed for use meet FIFA requirements,” according to Valcke.
Valcke added that deadlines had been missed by Brazil, with plans to host the opening game at the Itaquera still held back by the funding dispute, and that FIFA·”are in the fourth draft of fixture lists and dates,” with time running out to arrange the schedule ahead of the Confederations Cup.
President Sepp Blatter’s right hand man Valcke was speaking at Safa House, the headquarters of the South African Football Association, and insisted that the organisation for the showpiece tournament in 2014 were pushing ahead despite the construction problems.
By contrast, Valcke believes planning the 2010 tournament was more enjoyable and said that FIFA made considerable money from taking the World Cup to Africa for the first time, with South Africa proving that they were capable of hosting FIFA’s showpiece competition after fears over infrastructure in the buildup to the event.
“We did not lose any money from hosting the World Cup in South Africa,” he said.
“Instead we made a lot of money.
“This goes against those who said we would lose a ton of money for taking the World Cup to South Africa and Africa.
“South Africa has set the bar and now it’s up to Brazil in 2014, then Russia and Qatar to follow suit.”
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