By Andrew Warshaw
December 6 – The stadium hosting the opening match of next year’s World Cup will not be ready until a mere eight weeks before the start of the tournament. Twenty-four hours after the Brazilian government promised that the Sao Paolo venue damaged when two crane workers died in a recent accident would be finished by February, FIFA president Sepp Blatter revealed that it would in fact not be completed until “April 14th or 15th”.
The Itaquera Arena is due to host the June 12 opening match featuring host nation Brazil – who will discover their opponents in Friday’s gala draw.
Blatter did not give details but appealed for divine intervention. “We believe it is a question of trust and that it will be done,” he told a press conference following FIFA’s final executive committee meeting of the year.
“For the time being there is no Plan B and what FIFA can do now is ask God, Allah, whoever, that no more accidents shall arise in connection with the World Cup,” said Blatter. “That is all we can do and we hope the reconstruction can start as soon as possible.”
The setback could not have come at a more embarrassing time for the hosts, 24 hours before the razzmatazz of the draw, and is the latest in a string of delays involving stadiums and general infrastructure.
FIFA confirmed this week that stadiums in Cuiaba and Curitiba would not be delivered until mid-February though Brazilian Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo has been quick to downplay the delays even after admitting that, more than likely, as many as half the venues might actually be late.
“At every single wedding I’ve been to, the bride was always late,” Rebelo said. “The wedding always went ahead despite this. It is possible that one or two are delayed, but the most important thing is that they’ll all be delivered.”
Meanwhile, FIFA has revealed a 33% increase in prize money for the World Cup to $576 million, with the winners picking up $35 million and runners-up $25 million. Even those eliminated in the group stage will each receive $8 million.
A further $100 million will be allocated to cover player insurance – known as the ‘club protection programme’. This was launched last year for the international match calendar, to compensate clubs if any of their players get injured while on World Cup duty. The insurance was launched partly to protect FIFA from the threat of clubs taking legal action against them should a club asset (player) be injured and hence result in a financial loss for the club.
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