Sao Paulo on track for World Cup

FIFA general manager Fulvio Danilas has no doubts Sao Paulo’s Corinthians Stadium will be ready for the opening game of the 2014 World Cup.

Danilas was part of a team of 40 experts, made up from FIFA and Brazil’s Local Organising Committee, who began a tour of six of the 12 cities which will host World Cup matches.

The first stop was the 68,000-seat stadium in Sao Paulo, where construction is due to finish at the end of next year.

Danilas said he was certain it would be ready for the tournament opener on June 12, 2014.

“We don’t have any doubts, the opening game of the World Cup will take place in the Corinthians stadium in Sao Paulo, in the Itaquera neighbourhood,” Danilas said.

There are still concerns over the progress of stadium construction and urban transport improvement in the South American country, and Danilas outlined the reason for his team’s tour.

“In September last year, we visited the six stadiums that were candidates for the Confederations Cup,” he said.

“Four had been confirmed – Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia and Fortaleza, and two others were also candidates but had not yet been confirmed – Salvador de Bahia and Recife.”

“During this second stage we visited six other stadiums that were candidates for World Cup venues. We started with Sao Paulo and will visit another five (Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Cuiaba, Manaus and Natal).”