Stadium construction deadlines pushed back for World Cup

World Cup organizers, who have been highly critical of delays in construction and infrastructure improvements in preparation for next summer’s tournament in Brazil, accepted the obvious this week and pushed back deadlines for the completion of three venues.

All 12 World Cup stadiums were supposed to be ready for test events by the end of the year, but FIFA, the global governing body for soccer, admitted that stadiums in Sao Paulo, Curitiba and Cuiaba won’t meet that deadline.

The Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo, proposed site of the tournament opener, was nearly completed before a fatal crane accident last week killed two workers. FIFA, the Brazilian government and construction managers are awaiting a technical report before resuming the project. FIFA said it doesn’t have a timeline for completion of the stadium.

The Baixada Arena in Curitiba in the state of Parana is well behind schedule, and although FIFA said Tuesday that work will be completed ahead of the World Cup, officials hinted that changes in the original design may be required to make that happen.

“We’re going to increase the number of workers so that the temporary structures may be assembled,” FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke said of the stadium, which is about 83% complete.

The stadium in Cuiaba in the state of Mato Grosso is the closest of the three to completion, but it’s not expected to be ready until late January. The main delay there has been in the installation of seats.

“We’ve started the final and decisive stage with two goals: delivering the stadiums with enough time for us to have grounds fully organized from an operational point of view. Then holding planning meetings together with each host city to ensure a higher success rate of the operational plans,” said Luis Fernandes, the executive secretary of the Brazilian Ministry of Sports and a member of the local organizing committee.

The draw for the World Cup is scheduled to take place Friday morning.

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