Sao Paulo misses out on Confederations Cup

Sao Paulo’s hopes of staging the opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup took a hit when it was denied staging any Confederations Cup games.

FIFA have decided the largest city in Brazil will not be hosting any games in the 2013 competition, which is seen as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup the following year.

The concerns surround the city’s planned Itaquera Stadium, with work on the project repeatedly delayed and the decision to overlook the city for the Confederations Cup has left Sao Paulo’s football fans disappointed.

“We have all sorts of problems,” one disappointed supporter said. “Look at our messed up airports, the subways, and the stadium.”

“Nothing is ready yet and this complicates things. We expected more, especially from Sao Paulo. I expected much more.”

“I think they (authorities) didn’t pay much attention to this issue. Since the World Cup is taking place here in Brazil I think they should have given more attention to our state of Sao Paulo as well. I think we have the capacity to host matches here.”

Local economist Thiago Marinho pointed out the political and financial interests behind the World Cup as the main setback.

“I was very surprised because Sao Paulo is one of Brazil’s main capitals,” Marinho said.

“This was very disappointing and it also gets us to start wondering about what is behind all this, the political manoeuvres. As a Sao Paulo resident I am very disappointed.”