By David Gold
April 7 – With less than 800 days to go until the World Cup kicks off in Brazil, more than half of the stadiums being used are less than half way through construction or renovation, but should be completed by the close of 2013.
Stadiums have been a major concern for World Cup organisers, though the majority of them are expected to be finished by the end of 2013.
The Minerão stadium in Belo Horizonte is 55 per cent constructed, the Mané Garrincha in Brasilia 54 per cent complete and the Baixada Arena in Curitiba, the future stadium of Atlético Paranaense, 52 per cent there.
The Castelão in Fortaleza in the North East is over 60 per cent complete and the Fonte Nova in Salvador is 55 per cent built.
However, these are the only five stadiums on which most works have been completed, according to the Brazilian Government’s official World Cup portal.
The biggest concerns are the Arena das Dunas in Natal, on which only a fifth of construction works have been carried out after start up delays and the Beira-Rio in Porto Alegre, which is just 20 per cent through renovation work.
The Amazônia Arena in Manaus, the city in the heart of the famous Amazon rainforest, is 38 per cent complete, the Pantanal Arena (pictured below) in Cuiabá is 43 per cent built and only 32 per cent of construction work on the Pernambuco Arena in Recife has been carried out to date.
The highest profile stadiums struggling to be ready for 2014 are the famous Maracanã (pictured above) in Rio de Janeiro, which will also host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2016 Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the Itaquera in São Paulo.
The Maracanã has experienced problems with strikes delaying reconstruction of the famous stadium, which hosted the final of the World Cup the last time the competition came to Brazil in 1950, when the hosts lost 2-1 to Uruguay.
It will also stage the final of the 2014 competition where fans will hope the national team can bury memories of the infamous shock defeat to Uruguay over 60 years ago, now known as the Maracanãzo (the Maracanã blow).
Brazil 2014 are optimistic the stadium will be completed in time and say that it will be ready for next year’s Confederations Cup, the traditional dry run for the following year’s World Cup.
Work on the Itaquera, which is to host the opening game of the World Cup, only began last year after delays caused by a dispute over funding for the ground, which will become home to reigning Brazilian league champions Corinthians.
At a cost of 6.7 billion reais (£2.3 billion/$3.68 billion/€2.8 billion) is more than double what South Africa spent on stadiums for the 2010 World Cup.
Perhaps the biggest concern regarding these statistics is that stadium construction is not even the biggest concern ahead of Brazil 2014.
Airport capacity has been a long standing worry and may prove to be the competition’s Achilles’ heel.
A report one year ago claimed that 10 of 13 airports being renovated for 2014 were unlikely to be ready in time for the World Cup.
One area of good news for FIFA is that the World Cup law appears to be finally moving towards resolution after the Brazilian Congress last week approved a Bill which is now being considered in the country’s Senate.
This news has been welcomed by FIFA as the saga nears conclusion.
Contact the writer of this story at zib.l1734801477labto1734801477ofdlr1734801477owedi1734801477sni@d1734801477log.d1734801477ivad1734801477
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