Brazil blast Blatter over World Cup comments

Brazil’s 2014 World Cup officials have hit back angrily at FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s suggestion they are behind schedule.

“Blatter mustn’t worry, the (construction) timeframe will be met,” Rio de Janeiro state sports secretary Marcia Lins said on Wednesday.

Blatter criticised on Monday what he called Brazil’s day-after-tomorrow attitude to their World Cup preparations.

He said political infighting was delaying work especially in Rio, which is to host the final at the Maracana stadium, and Sao Paulo where work has not yet started on a venue for the opening match.

The Brazilian government and the local organising committee also invited Blatter to see for himself.

“If (FIFA) have doubts they can be clarified. They can come here and watch the work going on at the Maracana,” said Lins, repeating the invitation to Blatter.

“We have cameras monitoring the works and the local organising committee have access. There are daily visits and inspections that will show the Maracana won’t be a problem for the (2013) Confederations Cup,” Lins added.

“The stadium will be ready in December 2012. There’s no risk of that not happening.”

Lins said she was working on the basis of the Maracana being the main arena for the Confederations Cup which will act as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup a year later.

“It’s a natural thing. One of the objectives of the Confederations Cup is to test the stadiums for the (World) Cup. The Maracana, apart from staging the final, will be used for other matches,” she said.

“Rio is also the gateway to Brazil which gives the stadium even more relevance.”

The project for the stadium’s refurbishment will be unveiled on April 19.

It will detail all the work to be undertaken including whether the run-down upper tier will be restored or rebuilt from scratch, which is expected to more than double initial estimates.

“If we opt for restoring (the Maracana) it will get a new lease of life of something over 10 years,” Lins said. “If we decide on reconstruction, that time could be 20, 30 years depending on the materials we use.”