Silva suggests São Paulo may miss out on hosting 2014 games

Orlando_Silva

By David Gold

April 27 – Orland Silva, Brazil’s Sports Minister, has cast fresh doubt on whether São Paulo will be able to host games during the 2014 World Cup, with construction still yet to begin on the city’s Itaquera Stadium, which is intended to host the tournament’s opening match.

Corinthians, who will play at the new ground in São Paulo, do not want to pay for the entire cost of the project because they only want to build a 47,000 seater stadium, though FIFA regulations stipulate that the Itaquera must hold 65,000 to host the opening game of the World Cup.

Silva criticised the delays as irresponsible, and suggested that Brasilia, Belo Horizonte and Salvador could all come into contention to host the World Cup opener in 2014.

Corinthians had stated that the new stadium would not be ready in time to host games during the 2013 Confederations Cup, the traditional dress rehearsal for World Cups.

The club insist that the ground will be ready for 2014, though Silva says that almost three years would be required to construct the new stadium, which would mean that the Itaquera would be ready by February 2014, and only then if construction finally gets under way next month as planned.

São Paulo is the biggest city in Brazil, and the largest in the southern hemisphere, and so it would be a huge blow financially as much as anything else if it were to miss out on hosting games in 2014.

Corinthians’ rivals Palmeiras were reportedly due to offer their Estadio Palestra home ground, currently being constructed and due to open next year, as an alternative venue for the opening game, but authorities refused to make it available for the World Cup.

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