By Andrew Warshaw
January 22 – FIFA has warned Brazil’s World Cup organisers that the host city of Curitiba could be thrown out unless work on its stadium is speeded up – and quickly. In the most serious crisis to date over Curitiba preparations for the tournament, FIFA has set a February 18 ultimatum for the stadium, which is hosting four group games, to prove it can meet requirements.
The 43,000-seater Arena da Baixada in the south of Brazil is one of six venues to have missed the end-of-year deadline set by FIFA for stadium completion but is way behind the others even though it is only being refurbished rather than built from scratch.
FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke is on his latest fact-finding mission to Brazil and after giving a tentative thumbs-up to Sao Paolo, which is staging the symbolic opening game of the World Cup, he has issued a tough warning to Curitiba.
“The stadium is not only late, it is very, very late,” said Valcke. If you don’t have a stadium you can’t have games. It is an emergency situation.”
World champions Spain are due to take on Australia there on June 23. Honduras play Ecuador, Algeria meet Russia and Nigeria face Iran at the same venue.
“As you can imagine, the current situation of the stadium is not something we really appreciate,” Valcke told reporters on a visit to the ground. ” This is not only delayed, it is way behind schedule.”
Brazil’s sports minister said his government would do everything to avoid potential embarrassment. “All our efforts are focused on taking the measures that will guarantee the stadium is in the 2014 World Cup,” said Aldo Rebelo.
The prospect of matches being moved from Curitiba raises major concerns, not only for players and officials but also thousands of fans who have already bought tickets.
Judicial authorities ordered work to be halted in October because of alleged risk to construction workers. A month later, city councillors launched an investigation into allegations of over-charging and corruption.
The FIFA warning will come as a huge wake-up call for Brazil’s organising committee. The Arena da Baixada is apparently less than 90% complete and although it is privately owned, a substantial part of the renovation cost is being financed by public money, according to reports.
FIFA and the local state authorities are reported to have promised to inject an extra $17 million to speed up work at the venue. Coincidentally the crisis comes just as Brazil President Dilma Rousseff prepares to pay a courtesy visit to FIFA President Blatter on Thursday where the Curitiba issue seems bound to be discussed.
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