FIFA and Brazilian federal government announce new delivery dates for stadiums in São Paulo and Curitiba; FIFA Secretary-General affirms that new dates will not impede necessary tests of the facilities

 

BRASÍLIA, BRAZIL (3 December 2013) –  FIFA President Joseph Blatter announced at a press conference in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil today that the deadline for delivery of the Corinthians Arena in São Paulo has been updated to the end of February 2014 and Baixada Arena in Curitiba will be delivered in 2014. Gathering this week for the 2014 FIFA World Cup team draw on Friday, officials assessed the status of local preparations and confirmed that stadiums in Cuiabá, Manaus, Natal and Porto Alegre are in the final stages of construction and have planned events for January 2014.

The Corinthians Arena

The Corinthians Arena, stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup opening match, will have its delivery timeframe pushed back as a result of last week’s tragic accident involving the collapse of a crane being used to assemble the last piece of the stadium’s roof, which led to the death of two workers.  FIFA, the Brazilian federal government and construction managers are awaiting a technical report to assess the damage by the end of this week.

According to FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke, despite the accident, there will be time to finish and conduct tests at the stadium before the World Cup.

“We’re waiting for the final technical report so we may discuss it with the construction company. We know that, depending on when we’re given the green light to resume work, there may be some changes, but we have time…Of course the stadium won’t be delivered at the end of the year, but it will be delivered in time for the opening match, based on the preliminary information given to us,” said Valcke.

FIFA President Joseph Blatter expressed his condolences to the families and echoed the organization’s confidence that the project will be completed in time.

“With the reports we’ve seen today at the World Cup Organizing Committee meeting, we’re sure that we’re moving in the right direction to achieve positive results,” he said.

The Baixada Arena

The Baixada Arena in Curitiba has also had its delivery date changed. The FIFA Secretary-General confirmed that the stadium in the state of Paraná will be finished in 2014.

“We’re going to increase the number of workers so that the temporary structures may be assembled,” Valcke said.

Operational plans

The Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Sport and member of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) Luis Fernandes pointed out that the final draw marks, in effect, the beginning of the World Cup.

“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 Fernandes.

Today’s press conference, which was held at the same venue that will hold the 2014 FIFA World Cup final draw, was also attended by FIFA’s Communication Director Walter de Gregorio, a member of FIFA’s Organizing Committee Issa Hayatou, and LOC and Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) President José Maria Marin.

 

***

About SECOM:

The Secretariat for Social Communication (SECOM) of the Federative Republic of Brazil is responsible for coordinating the public relations activities for the government of Brazil. The official website of the Brazilian State is: www.brasil.gov.br.  The official social media accounts for SECOM International are on Facebook and Twitter at http://www.facebook.com/BrazilGovNews/ andtwitter.com/BrazilGovNews.

 

US PRESS CONTACT:  
Katie Lowry, FleishmanHillard New York 
Telephone:  + 1 212-453-2217
Email: kathleen.lowry@fleishman.com

 

This material is distributed by FleishmanHillard Inc. on behalf of the Secretariat for Social Communication of the Presidency of Brazil.  Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.