© EuroFootball.com
With 71 days left until the World Cup, FIFA admitted that Brazilians will not be able to finish preparations on time, but the opening matches will not be postponed. FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke stated that Brazil will not be fully prepared for the tournament's start due to delayed construction.
The stadiums in Porto Alegre and Sao Paulo are still not finished. The opening match between Brazil and Croatia is scheduled to take place on June 12th at the Sao Paulo stadium. However, Valcke assures that this will not lead to a delay in the start of the tournament.
"If I had to summarize, I would say that we are not ready - two stadiums are not finished," Valcke admitted to the BBC.
Last week, preparations for the tournament were overshadowed by another worker's death at the Sao Paulo stadium "Arena Corinthians". In total, eight construction workers have died while building the stadiums for the World Cup in Brazil.
Valcke complained that after another worker's death at the stadium, work was stopped: "It is sad that a worker died at the Sao Paulo stadium a few days ago. Because of this, work inside the stadium was stopped, and there is still a lot to do. However, we will definitely not postpone the start of the tournament. Maybe there will be things that will not be fully ready for the start of the championship, but the main training venues and stadiums will be truly prepared."
