Today.Az » Sports » Brazil should prove deserves World Cup hosting
05 June 2013 [09:25] - Today.Az
Football’s spiritual guardian Brazil is in need of convincing sceptics that it is able to host soccer’s most prestigous event, World Cup next year only two weeks remaining. Brazillian officials seem self-confident.
When it kicks off the Confederations Cup 12 days from now, Brazil will have two weeks to convince sceptics that it can honour its pledge to stage a successful World Cup next year.
The upcoming tournament, in which eight teams -- Spain, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Japan, Nigeria and Tahiti -- will compete from June 15 to 30, is seen as a dress rehearsal for the 2014 World Cup, soccer’s most prestigious event.
Some 355,000 Brazilians and foreign tourists are expected for the tournament for which Latin America’s leading power has struggled to complete the construction or renovation of the six host arenas.
The work has been plagued by repeated delays caused by strikes, roof collapse and other problems.
The latest contretemps occurred last Thursday when a judge ordered the suspension of the June 2 friendly international between Brazil and England at Rio’s hallowed Maracana stadium over safety concerns.
It took the intervention of Rio state authorities who had to produce evidence that the iconic arena met safety requirements for the judge to relent and lift the suspension, which was blamed on a “bureaucratic error.”
The news was greeted with relief by soccer world governing body FIFA.
/HurriyetDailynews.Com/
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