FIFA secretary inspects stadium to host opener

FIFA Secretary-General Jérôme Valcke and Brazil’s Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo inspected Tuesday (Apr 22) Arena Corinthians, also known as Itaquerão, in the city of São Paulo. The stadium will host the opening ceremony of the 2014 World Cup on June 12. Valcke admitted deadlines are tight, but said he believes it will be ready for the tournament.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done, it’s a race against time, but I can say the opening match will take place here at the Corinthians stadium,” Valcke remarked. According to him, a team assembled by FIFA has also monitored the progress of the construction works carried out in the roads near the stadium. Aldo Rebelo, in turn, said he had a chance to walk around the surroundings first, and see the urban mobility reforms in operation. “I saw some of the works already concluded, and others in an advanced state,” he noted.

During a meeting held today, the deadline for the conclusion of the works on the bleachers was set for May 10. São Paulo’s deputy mayor Nádia Campeão declared the construction works around the stadium are part of a partnership between the city and the state governments, and will be concluded by next Monday, April 28. “Only the footbridge connecting the metro areas to the stadium had its conclusion scheduled for May,” announced Júlio Semeghini, state secretary for planning and regional development.

Itaquerão is expected to be evaluated again by FIFA late in May. “An important date is that of the test match, to be held at this stadium, on either May 17 or 18, with an audience set at 50 thousand people. That will provide us with the right conditions for ascertaining whether everything is operational, and, after that, we have three weeks’ time to tackle any problems,” said the secretary-general. The trial event will also serve as a way to assess the work of the Integrated Center for Command and Control, which is part of the security strategy devised to operate in the host cities.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira