SAO PAULO: Local media reports in Sao Paulo claim that the Itaquera stadium which is due to host the Opening Match of the 2014 World Cup will miss the December delivery deadline.

World federation federation set a December deadline for 12 stadia but São Paulo may miss that after a chief engineer suggested it could be “February or March” before the stadium is completed.

FIFA, according to the Associated Press, said: “The technical teams of FIFA and the local organizing committee have reinforced the tight monitoring on all remaining six FIFA World Cup stadiums not only limited to Sao Paulo.

“The host cities, the federal government and stadium owners have committed to this delivery date [December 2013] and acknowledged that for the FIFA World Cup no comprises can be made on this not to jeopardize the successful staging of football’s flagship event.”

São Paulo’s organising committee responded: “The  local organizing committee knows of the challenges that the host city of Sao Paulo is facing to install the temporary seats in the stadium,” the committee said in a statement.

“However, the committee has been informed that the city is looking for solutions to accelerate the timetable for the installation so it can deliver the stadium and all the temporary structures by December this year, which is the deadline agreed upon in contract by all six host cities of the Confederations Cup in 2007.”

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