Porto Alegre warns it must have funding tax breaks to stay as a 2014 host
March 25 – The mayor of Porto Alegre has warned the city may be forced to drop out of the World Cup if key legislation is not approved this week.
2014 News
Belo Horizonte set for matches and fans, on plan and stadium-ready
By Andrew Warshaw
March 21 – Belo Horizonte officials say their stadium will be 100% ready for the World Cup this summer and have played down a recent leak in the roof just hours before a regional game.
Sao Paulo nerves as Brazil stadia build is going down to the wire
By Andrew Warshaw
March 3 – The stadium set to host the showpiece opening match of the World Cup may not be ready until less than four weeks before the start of the tournament, the latest of a series of setbacks for FIFA and Brazilian organisers. FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said that work on the stadium in Sao Paulo may now not be completed until mid-May.
Cuiaba’s Arena Pantanal passes structural checks and set for April
February 18 – Representatives of Brazil’s Cuiaba World Cup stadium have been quick to downplay suggestions that the venue is facing a race against time because of fire damage last October.
Brazil boosts security plan with 100,000 officers, Sao Paulo players attacked
January 7 – Brazil has released detail of its increased security plan for the World Cup later this year, saying it will be doubling the number of security personnel in comparison to the 2013 Confederations Cup, to 100,000.
Brazil 2014: Curitiba in crisis as missed deadlines threaten hosting rights
By Andrew Warshaw
January 22 – FIFA has warned Brazil’s World Cup organisers that the host city of Curitiba could be thrown out unless work on its stadium is speeded up – and quickly. In the most serious crisis to date over Curitiba preparations for the tournament, FIFA has set a February 18 ultimatum for the stadium, which is hosting four group games, to prove it can meet requirements.
Valcke back in Brazil as infrastructure build gets close to deadlines
January 20 – FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke is back in Brazil checking on the progress of World Cup stadiums – but has apparently cancelled a visit to Manaus because of a workers’ dispute at Arena Amazonas which is due to host a number of group games next summer.
Rousseff counters Blatter saying Brazil will host World Cup of World Cups
By Andrew Warshaw
January 7 – Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff has hit back at FIFA President Sepp Blatter’s attack on her country’s lack of sufficient World Cup preparation by insisting it will stage the best tournament in history. Last weekend Blatter expressed FIFA’s growing concern in no uncertain terms, chiding Brazil for being further behind any World Cup organiser he had ever known at this stage in the proceedings.
Brasilia leak will not hold up the 2014 party, says Secopa
December 27 – Brazil’s World Cup preparations were dampened with another infrastructural setback with the revelation that the 73,000-capacity national stadium in Brasilia has a leaking roof less than eight months after it was completed.
Manaus stadium build set to re-start
December 19 – Construction is set to resume at the World Cup stadium in Manaus where a young worker recently fell to his death, prompting a walkout amid heightening safety fears six months ahead of the big kickoff.
2014 World Cup Draw: Floaters and sinkers, days of reckoning begin here
By Andrew Warshaw
December 6 – It’s being described as the European ‘floater; and it could have major ramifications at today’s eagerly awaited World Cup draw in Brazil. Under a new formula designed to ensure an even geographical spread, before the main draw even takes place one of the nine unseeded European teams from Pot Four will be drawn at random by organisers and switched to Pot Two alongside Ecuador, Chile and the five African contenders,
Sao Paulo stadium finish put back to mid-April – FIFA pray, LOC keeps faith
By Andrew Warshaw
December 6 – The stadium hosting the opening match of next year’s World Cup will not be ready until a mere eight weeks before the start of the tournament. Twenty-four hours after the Brazilian government promised that the Sao Paolo venue damaged when two crane workers died in a recent accident would be finished by February, FIFA president Sepp Blatter revealed that it would in fact not be completed until “April 14th or 15th”.
‘No crisis, no changes’, but three 2014 stadia will miss end 2013 deadlines
By Andrew Warshaw
December 4 – With the eyes of the world on Friday’s World Cup draw, the last thing the Brazilian local organisers need is more negative publicity about preparations for the tournament. But FIFA has said that up to three of the 12 stadiums being used will not meet the end-of-year deadline for completion. Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba, Curitiba’s Arena da Baixada and Sao Paulo’s Arena Corinthians stadium – which is hosting the opening game and where two workmen were killed in a crane accident last month –
Exclusive: Brazil’s dope testing failure leaves ‘shocked’ FIFA with few options
By Andrew Warshaw in Doha
November 20 – FIFA’s leading medical expert has warned that anti-doping measures at next year’s World Cup could be seriously compromised as a result of having to transport samples halfway round the world for testing.
Rebelo says Brazil will be ready to party and terror threat not significant
By Andrew Warshaw
November 4 – Brazilian Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo has tried to play down the mood of dissatisfaction throughout the country, highlighted by the mass street protests that marred last summer’s Confederations Cup. Rebelo remains convinced that the party atmosphere at next year’s World Cup, Brazil’s first as hosts for over half a century, will deflect attention away from social unrest.