Valcke visits Brazil again
Sunday, 2nd September 2012 at 06:22am
Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke paid yet another visit to Brazil to assess the progress beingmade by the host nation ahead of the 2014 Fifa World Cup.
As part of his visit, Valcke was given a tour around one of the host stadiums that will be used at the finals is the city of Manaus in the north of the country.
On Tuesday, the secretary general of football's governing body was joined by Brazilian footballing legends Bebeto and Ronaldo in their capacities as representatives of the 2014 Brazil World Cup organizing committee.
The trio toured the $260-million, 44,000-seater Arena Amazonia, which is one of 12 stadiums that will accommodate the 32 countries that qualify for the tournament.
As things stand, the Arena Amazonia is 42 per cent finished and is scheduled to be completed in June of next year.
The following day, the group made the journey to Cuiaba, a city in Mato Grosso, a central-western state of Brazil, to see the Arena Pantanal.
The $254 million stadium is 46 per cent complete, will seat more than 42,000 people and will host four games.
Valcke said that both stadiums "are perfect examples of the beautiful diversity of the country".
The trip is Valcke's second visit since he infuriated the Brazilian public by suggesting that the nation's organizers needed a "kick up the backside" amid fears that they were falling behind schedule.
This led to the host nation refusing to deal with Valcke and Fifa supremo was forced to travel to Brazil to diffuse tension.
Brazil maintain they will be ready to host the tournament when it kicks off in June, 2014.
0 comments so far (click here to post your new comments)
Leave your comment:
Note: Comments may not appear immediately. Email addresses are only needed for validation purposes. Please keep comments relevant. Any content deemed inappropriate or offensive will be edited and/or deleted.
No HTML code is allowed. You may use BBCode to format your text.