adminOn the eve of yet another Fifa deadline, Brazil has delivered only three of the six venues for the eight-nation warm-up starting in two months.
World soccer’s governing body Fifa had demanded that all six stadiums be ready by this past December but construction delays forced it to extend the deadline until April 15. Even with that extra time, all the stadiums will not be ready.
The cities of Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza and Salvador have complied with the timetable and delivered their stadiums, while Recife will open its Arena Pernambuco on Sunday, one day ahead of the final Fifa deadline.
In Brasilia, 5 000 workers toil around the clock to finish the Mane Garrincha National Stadium, bolting seats into concrete galleries and draining the field where rolls of grass have still to be laid for the pitch.
The US$500 million colonnaded arena in the centre of Brazil’s modern capital is the most expensive of the 12 venues that will host the World Cup. Brazil will face Japan here in the opening game of the Confederations Cup on June 15, the first test of the South American nation’s ability to organise two rapidly approaching global sporting events, next year’s World Cup and the Olympic Games two years later. — Soccernet.
Online Reporter