FIFA concerned by preparations

24 June 2011 16:00

Brazil's slow pace of preparation for the 2014 World Cup has come under attack from FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke.

Stadium development plus work on airports and the transport system are lagging well behind schedule.

Valcke told the inaugural Inside World Football Forum in Moscow: "There is a lot of work to deliver. We don't have stadiums, we don't have airports, we don't have a national transportation system in place and we are one month away from the preliminary draw."

He added: "The Maracana is definitely not currently a World Cup stadium and that's why it's closed. It will be ready at the last minute, a few months maybe, even a few weeks before the tournament if they don't speed up the process.

"In Sao Paulo, the main city in Brazil, they will not even be able to play the Confederations Cup in 2013 because the stadium will not be ready."

Valcke suggested the main aim in Brazil was to win the World Cup rather than organise a successful tournament.

"In South Africa the main goal was to show the world that Africa could organise a World Cup," said Valcke

"In Brazil, in a way the main issue is to win it. Otherwise they will talk about failure."

Valcke, however, refused to comment on the bribery scandal that has engulfed FIFA.

He said: "I'm here to talk about football. Sometimes at FIFA we need this."

Source: PA