By David Gold
February 3 – A court has ordered workers involved in the construction of a stadium in Recife for the 2014 World Cup to end a strike which has lasted more than a week.
Workers had believed they should have higher salaries and their action disrupted work at the Arena Pernambuco since last Wednesday.
The court ruled that the 2,000 workers on strike should accept a pay offer made by their employers, the Arena Pernambuco Consortium, and declared the strike illegal.
A strike has also been threatened by workers at the Estádio Fonta Nova in Salvador, while the iconic Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro was hit by similar industrial action last year.
The Estádio Mineirão in Belo Horizonte and Brasilia’s Estádio Nacional have also previously been affected by striking workers.
Brazil has been hit by a string of problems with constructing stadia for the World Cup in 2014, but it is now only the Estádio das Dunas in Natal which is causing serious concern ahead of the Confederations Cup in 2013.
Meanwhile, the logo for the Confederations Cup has been unveiled, with the native Brazilian bird rufous-bellied thrush at the centre of its logo, its wings reaching towards a football.
Brasília will host the opening game of the Confederations Cup, with the final taking place in Rio at the Maracanã, whilst the semi-finals will take place at Fortaleza and Belo Horizonte.
Recife and Salvador may also stage games during the tournament but are awaiting FIFA approval to upgrade their status from ‘conditionally approved’ to ‘approved’ host cities.
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