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Valcke Risks Ire of Brazilians with New Warning over Pace of World Cup Stadia Work |
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Football - 29 Jan 2013 - Jérôme Valcke, the secretary general of Fifa, soccer’s world governing body, has risked the ire of the Brazilian government and of the organising committee for next year’s World Cup, which is being staged in the country, by issuing a new warning over the pace of preparations for the event.
After two previous agreements to delay the date for the delivery of the stadia that will be used for this summer’s Confederations Cup, the World Cup ‘dress rehearsal’, Valcke yesterday warned that Fifa would not compromise on the final date of April 15, saying : “We cannot go beyond this date. There cannot be any further delays. All the stadiums must be ready by then.”
Valcke was speaking on a visit to the new Mané Garrincha stadium in Brasilia, which is scheduled to host the opening game of the Confederations Cup between Brazil and Japan on June 15.
Rio de Janeiro’s famous Maracana stadium is, however, already set to miss the deadline after the state government of Rio said that it will not be ready until the end of May. The Maracana was due to reopen in February after a $450-million renovation but delays have forced a postponement.
Nevertheless, Valcke was more circumspect in a statement on Fifa’s website, where he was quoted as saying: “We are going to carry on working with the six host cities of the Fifa Confederations Cup and I can safely say that everything is on track.
“We would have preferred the initial deadline of December 2012 to have been met but the decision to extend it to April was made by the whole group: the Brazilian government, the host cities, Fifa and the LOC [local organising committee]. What cannot happen is for that deadline to be extended. Everything has to be ready by then: the pitch, roof, seating, rooms, technology solutions, etc.”
Last year, Valcke suggested that Brazil needed a “kick up the backside” in its organisation of the 2014 World Cup, a comment he was later forced to apologise for after Aldo Rebelo, Brazil's sports minister, informed Fifa that Brazil was no longer prepared to deal directly with him in the organisation of the event.
Sportcal
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