By Tom Degun
October 17 – FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke has expressed his concern that Brazil’s six stadiums for the 2013 Confederations Cup will not be ready on time due to the slow pace of preparations.
The competition will be a major event for Brazil as it will act as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup but in his his latest inspection visit to the country, Valcke (pictured top, left) said the stadiums would not be ready to stage the event, which takes place next June, unless the pace of work is dramatically increased.
“At this pace, we are not going to have six stadiums ready for the Confederations Cup,” said Valcke.
The comments mark Valcke’s latest attack on Brazil as he has previously been a vocal critic of its World Cup preparations, claiming that it has routinely fallen behind schedule.
But his Confederations Cup comments will be of concern to Brazil, which will want to stage an impressive World Cup warm-up event.
The six cities selected to host matches for 2013 Confederations Cup are Brasília, Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Recife, Salvador and Rio de Janeiro, which will also host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Recife’s Arena Pernambuco (pictured above) is believed to be the main concern for Confederations Cup organisers, with only 64 per cent of construction work completed on the new 46,000-seat stadium ahead of the tournament’s kick-off in Brasília on June 15.
It is believed that it needs to reach 80 per cent completion ahead of FIFA’s next visit later this year for the stadium to be approved for the tournament.
FIFA has issued the six cities with a mid-November deadline in order to prove their readiness for the Confederations Cup and even Brazil’s Sports Minister, Aldo Rebelo, has admitted that delivery cannot be guaranteed at this moment in time.
“We don’t have a single stadium ready for the Confederations Cup,” he said
“We have deadlines.
“Stadiums that are on schedule will host matches, those that don’t make the deadline won’t.”
Contact the writer of this story at zib.l1734914556labto1734914556ofdlr1734914556owedi1734914556sni@n1734914556uged.1734914556mot1734914556