BRASILIA: The speed with which Brazilian builders have been forced to race to beat deadlines for the Confederations Cup stadia has raised major issues of safety and security.

The latest questionmark has been raised after heavy rain ripped through the roof in the in the new venue in the north-eastern city of Salvador less than a month before the start of the World Cup warm-up event.

A large gash was torn in one of 36 plastic panels above the seating by the weight of water which had flooded over it. The stadium has been rebuilt at a cost of just under $300m.

Local agencies report that much of the area around Rio’s Maracana – which will host the Confed final – remains a construction site while visitors at other s0-called ‘delivered’ stadia have complained of unfinished bathrooms, leaky plumbing and general flooding.

The Joao Havelange stadium in Rio,which is due to host athletics at the 2016 Olympic games, has been closed indefinitely after inspectors discovered structural flaws in its roof. Botafogo, who use the venue for home matches, have  been unable to play there since March.

Only on Monday President Dilma Rousseff, in a radio show, said: “Our new  stadia show that the (Brazilian) people have the determination, capacity and competence to host the best World Cup of all time.”

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