Brazil venues struggle to meet World Cup deadline

[Zeppo]

The conspiracy continues!

The BBC will stop at nothing, I tell you! Nothing!

[Mosiah]

LOL!

[Zeppo]

Brazil World Cup 2014: Worker dies in stadium fall

A worker has been killed after falling from the roof of the Amazon stadium in Manaus, which is due to host games in the 2014 Fifa World Cup.

Marcleudo de Melo Ferreira, 22, died in hospital in Manaus after falling nearly 35m (115ft) when a cable broke.

The stadium is behind schedule and work is under way day and night to complete it by Fifa's end of year deadline.

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[Zeppo]

Construction halted at Manaus stadium after second fatality

Following the death on Saturday of a construction worker at the Arena Amazônia in Manaus -- where the US national team is due to play Portugal on June 22 at next summer's FIFA World Cup -- a Brazilian labor court has halted construction on the stadium.

Judge Maria Nely Bezerra de Oliveira granted the order on Sunday after prosecutors petitioned on Saturday night for the "immediate" end to work at the site. The court, located in Manaus, that inspectors had reported 114 violations at the stadium site since construction began.

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[Zeppo]

Builders strike at Amazon stadium

Construction workers at the World Cup football stadium in the Brazilian city of Manaus have gone on strike demanding better safety conditions.

The builders' union took the action after a worker fell more than 35m (100ft) to his death on Saturday.

All high work had already been halted by a court order on the weekend. It is not clear when the contractors will resume work.

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[Zeppo]

Brazil and its 'relatively simple' World Cup delays

In a rare question-and-answer huddle with Brazilian journalists this week, President Dilma Rousseff pronounced with confidence that the beleaguered new football stadium in the southern city of Curitiba would "definitely" be ready for the World Cup.

Mrs Rousseff was speaking on the pitch at the Arena das Dunas in the northern coastal city of Natal, which she had just officially opened with a rather nervous kick of a ball from the centre-spot.

It was a rare high-point for Brazil - and its World Cup organisers - after a disastrous week during which a high-level Fifa delegation had seen, warts and all, the state of the country's readiness for the tournament that begins in mid-June.

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[Zeppo]

Brazil's laggard stadium risks being benched for World Cup

The Arena da Baixada is threatened with exclusion from the World Cup and has until February 18 to convince FIFA it will be ready in June and local residents are in a state of shock.

"The club's management should be ashamed," said Marcos Malucelli, a former president of Atletico who opposed Brazil hosting the World Cup, before adding state and city governments and world soccer's governing body FIFA should also feel embarrassed.

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[Zeppo]

FIFA's Jerome Valcke warns host venues

Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke has issued a warning to host cities of the 2014 Brazil World Cup ahead of a key visit to the nation.

Valcke will arrive in Brazil on Sunday in order to assess the readiness of venues for this summer's tournament. His trip will include the city of Curitiba, where work on the Arena da Baixada is well behind schedule.

"None of the 12 cities can afford to sit back and relax," wrote Valcke in his column on the Fifa website.

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[Zeppo]

Pressure starting to rise for hosts Brazil

"We're working in conditions where the cement is not yet dry," said Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke as preparations for the 2014 World Cup move towards the final straight.

The strain is showing on Valcke. Fifa wanted all 12 stadiums ready by December, to give plenty of time for test events. Sao Paulo, scene of the opening game, may not be handed over until May.

Curitiba got itself so far behind that there was a real danger of the city being cut from the schedule.

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[Mosiah]

Send come call mi when the 2014 World Cup has been moved to the USA.

[Peter R]

The sky is falling! didn't you hear?

[Zeppo]

Brazil's WCup: Anger over waste, poor planning

Pedestrians tiptoe across a road scarred with deep puddles, piles of gravel and a detour sign. Black oily slush leaves no room for missteps or steering mistakes.

The debris in this small city in western Brazil is part of the grand-scale mess of unfulfilled promises. Unfinished infrastructure projects were supposed to create a new metropolis, with modern roads and a light-rail system to whiz passengers to the city center from a gleaming 21st century airport in time for this year's World Cup. From the look of things, they won't be done in Cuiaba — or in the country's other 11 host cities, where many construction plans are hopelessly behind schedule, or have been canceled.

"This work here that's right by the stadium, I think they'll get it finished," said Atilio Martinelli, who runs a locksmith business near the building site. "It'll be done poorly and at the last minute, but they'll at least finish it. But there is no way they'll finish most of the other projects. It's going to be a great humiliation for us."

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[Mosiah]

ZEPPO! I told you to call me when the WC is moved to the USA!! What are all these pointless posts about?!?!?

Heheh!

[Zeppo]

Brazil World Cup city 'may drop out'

The mayor of Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil, says his city may drop out of June's football World Cup if key legislation is not approved this week.

Jose Fortunati told a local station that "there was no plan B" to find much-needed extra funding.

He says a bill creating tax breaks for companies investing in temporary structures for the tournament must be voted on on Tuesday.

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[Zeppo]

Work at Brazil's World Cup stadium halted after worker dies

Brazilian authorities halted work at the temporary stands of the stadium that will host the opening match of this year's World Cup following the death of a worker, the company in charge of the construction said on Monday.

The regional labor authority of Sao Paulo demanded that Fast Engenharia stop building to make a technical analysis of the project, the company said in a statement. Fast Engenharia said that after the analysis it will announce a new time frame for finishing the temporary stands.

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