adminCOSTA DO SAUIPE (Brazil) – Sweltering temperatures and palm tree-fringed beaches home to dozens of newly hatched turtles heading for a glistening azure sea was the setting as World Cup organisers met on Wednesday to finalise preparations for today’s draw. Fifa chose the north-eastern resort of Costa do Sauipe for the draw, an hour by road north of the city of Salvador, once Brazil’s capital and still the focus of the country’s African heritage.
On Tuesday, world football’s governing body had to accept publicly that three of the 12 tournament venues will not meet what had been a strict December 31 delivery deadline, but Fifa maintains that will not affect the event being a success.
Work stopped temporarily at Sao Paulo’s Arena Corinthians venue last week following a fatal accident that killed two construction workers, while Cuiaba and Curitiba are also running late, with authorities saying they may not be ready before February.
But Fifa president Sepp Blatter insists everything will come together in time.
Salvador revels in the monicker of Brazil’s capital of happiness. But that was not the image it transmitted during last June’s Confederations Cup, when violent street protests put it in the headlines.
Protest groups have promised to keep on voicing their concerns that major sporting events are hoovering up public cash that could be better spent on issues such as education and health.
Fifa is keeping the exact draw mechanism under wraps until today but each group will be topped by a seeded nation.
The eight seeds from the first pot are hosts Brazil, defending champions Spain, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland.
Pot two has seven teams for the time being, including the five-strong African contingent, with pot three containing the US, Australia and Japan, among others.
Pot four consists of the nine non-seeded European teams including former champions England, France and Italy. One of the nine will have to be assigned to pot two. – Sapa-AFP.
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