Brazil grounds to miss fiffa deadline

Three stadiums being built for the
2014 World Cup in Brazil will not be
ready for the deadline of the end of
the year, according to Fifa.
Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba, Curitba's
Arena da Baixada and Sao Paulo's
Arena Corinthians stadium are all set
to to miss the 31 December date.
Two workmen were killed in an
accident in Sao Paulo last month.
"We're feeling sad for the families.
Sao Paulo will be ready for the
opening match," president Sepp
Blatter said.
"We deplore the loss of the two
people who lost their lives."
Blatter added that the issues with the
stadiums are "so small we can close
our eyes".
The 43,000-seater Arena Pantanal,
where a plan for a retractable roof
has been abandoned, and the 41,000
Arena da Baixada are also behind
schedule.
But Fifa general secretary Jerome
Valcke says they will all be ready by
February.
Valcke said: "We don't know when
the green light [to resume work] will
be given [in Sao Paolo].
"We are not in a crisis mood, looking
at an alternative to Sao Paulo but
Curitiba is facing the most problems
and clearly won't be delivered before
February 2014.
"The people from Curitiba attended a
meeting [on Monday] and promised
to organise themselves to get the
stadium ready by the end of February
2014."
The draw for next year's tournament,
which starts on 12 June in Sao
Paolo, takes place on Friday.