March 28 – FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke admits “time is flying” towards completing the final three stadiums for the World Cup and that the delays faced by Brazil should serve as a lesson to future hosts.
Wrapping up his latest visit to Bazil, Valcke pledged that stadiums in Curitiba, Cuiaba and Sao Paulo would eventually be ready.
“We are late and we will have challenges. And we will have a lot of work, and potentially some risks coming at the last minute because we have not tried and tested all the facilities,” Valcke told reporters in Rio after meeting the Local Organising Committee.
He said FIFA will have to avoid the confusion about who pays for what at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which is also using 12 stadiums. “It’s a lesson and definitely we will act differently, We will have to find a different way of working for Russia 2018.”
The Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo, which stages the opening match between Brazil and Croatia on June 12, is one of the three stadiums still not ready, with media facilities yet to be installed. A fatal accident in late November put back construction which was already behind schedule and the venue is not now due for delivery until mid-May.
On Sao Paulo, Valcke admitted: “We don’t yet have a solution. We will have 12 host cities; we will have 12 stadiums but there is work to do. Time is flying. It will happen in Sao Paulo – there is no other choice even if we will maybe be a bit borderline. You have thousands of people who have bought tickets. … We have to work all together to make sure it will happen.”
Originally, organisers said everything had to be in place 90 days before the competition began in order to carry out tests but with 77 days to go before the first ball is kicked work has not yet started.
Porto Alegre city council voted on Tuesday to award tax breaks to companies who invest in the installations, paving the way for work to begin. Valcke said the next three weeks were crucial as FIFA deals with various contractors there.
Brazil may be the most successful nation in history but the vast nation’s first World Cup in 64 years has turned into a nightmare for organisers.
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