RIO DE JANEIRO: There is still a lot of work to do to get the Curitiba stadium, one of 12 host arenas for next year’s World Cup, ready by the late December deadline, FIFA said.
After inspecting stadiums in Sao Paulo, Curitiba and Manaus this week, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke and local organisers of next year’s World Cup met in Rio de Janeiro to take stock.
“Curitiba definitely has a lot of work to do.... There is a limit of time, a few months, a few weeks before the end of December,” Valcke told a press conference.
n the southern city of Curitiba, he announced that construction of a retractable roof for the stadium would begin after the tournament so as not to delay the overall work.
Six of the tournament’s 12 host arenas are still under construction.
“Sao Paulo is really looking well, the pitch is a beautiful one, it’s a brand new pitch,” Valcke noted. “Manaus is on its way.”
Work on the Curitiba stadium is 75 percent completed, while Sao Paulo’s Itaquerao stadium is 86 percent finished and Manaus’s Amazonia Arena is 77.8 percent done, according to official data.
Valcke voiced hope that the six host stadiums still under construction will be ready in time and that the first test matches there “will take place in January 2014...to avoid issues we faced (during) the Confederations Cup with late deliveries.
“We’re selling tickets for 12 stadiums so there will be games in the 12 stadiums,” he added. AFP
