Brazil 2014 World Cup...

[DannyelBrazil]

Baron, it's about continental qualifiers for the World Cup. Not the World Cup itself.

The continental qualifiers tournaments starts 3 years before the World Cup.

[Olympian2004]

And to make it even more clear (): The "July 30" the article mentions is July 30, 2011. The draw for the group stage at the actual 2014 tournament will be most certainly in December 2013, after the end of all qualifier matches (just as it has always been for World Cups).

[Bezzi]

Beira Rio Stadium in Porto Alegre

[Bezzi]

Start of works in Fortaleza:

[Bezzi]

Works in Salvador:

Works in Porto Alegre:

Works in Maracana:

[LuigiVercotti]

Not sure how true this is (after all the source is what could be called non-serious journalism at its best) but...

England stands by to host 2014 World Cup finals

Dec 19 2010 by Alan Nixon, The People

The FA are ready to bring the World Cup finals to England in 2014 if Brazil cannot host the tournament.

People Sport can reveal that senior FA figures have already discussed the rescue plan and will sort out their strategy and timings at a meeting this week.

Just a couple of weeks after FIFA humiliatingly snubbed England’s attempt to bring football home in 2018, a surprise chance has emerged to do it sooner.

The FA are ready to open ­diplomatic talks with FIFA officials, including hate-figure Sepp Blatter, to volunteer to take over from Brazil if they fail to get their stadia and airports built in time.

And, in a cute twist, the FA will use Blatter’s own words against him as they lobby their long-shot case. The FIFA president admitted during the run-up to the crucial vote that he believed England “could host the World Cup tomorrow”.

The quality grounds shown here prove he is right.

Brazil have been monitored by FIFA since winning the vote for 2014. Progress is slow but there are no fears just yet.

However, FIFA will have to make a decision – ironically, at about the time London will be hosting the ­summer 2012 Olympics.

There is a precedent for changing the venue for the finals.

Four years before the 1986 ­competition Colombia, considered an odd choice at the time, said ­economic problems meant they could not, after all, stage the big event and Mexico stepped in to host the ­tournament won by Argentina.

I understand Roger Burden, the outgoing FA chairman, is in favour of the attempt, as are a couple of experienced and shrewd backers.

But they will need to get their game plan right.

The new England blueprint would have to update the facilities that would be available in 2014 – with some of the proposed grounds in the original bid not going to be ready and other 2018 projects shelved.

England had included a group of new grounds from Plymouth through to Bristol, Nottingham and Tottenham.

So they would have to show they could turn it round and get their act together.

Intriguingly, there could even be a move to bring other venues not in the original England bid into the picture.

One obvious possibility is to use the Olympic Stadium in east ­London.

And even the Millennium Stadium in Wales or Scotland’s Hampden Park could come into play if an ­emergency plan is needed, ­although there would be no “free pass” to the final for either country if it comes to that.

However, cities such as Leicester, Derby and Hull, who all made ­submissions to be ­venues, would be able to argue their case strongly, so that issue needs to be addressed.

But the attitude from senior FA figures is simple.

One said: “What have we got to lose? Sepp put our case better than we could. If Brazil cannot fulfil the finals, we certainly could.”

[Bezzi]

Not sure how true this is (after all the source is what could be called non-serious journalism at its best) but...

I will repeat what i said about that news in another forum. Losing an election when you're favorite is not easy but England will have to wait a little longer. We will host the World Cup in 2014. 10 of the 12 cities have already started the works in their stadiums. The infrastructure works have also begun in several cities. The situation that we have more concerns is about the airports. Only two started their works, but all others are in the tender stage. Remember that we're still in 2010! We have time and we are not stopped, we're working!

[baron-pierreIV]

I will repeat what i said about that news in another forum. Losing an election when you're favorite is not easy but England will have to wait a little longer. We will host the World Cup in 2014. 10 of the 12 cities have already started the works in their stadiums. The infrastructure works have also begun in several cities. The situation that we have more concerns is about the airports. Only two started their works, but all others are in the tender stage. Remember that we're still in 2010! We have time and we are not stopped, we're working!

I know. I saw the documentary on PBS last night about preparations by the various samba schools for Carnaval!! Right after they win or lose in Carnaval, the schools are planning the next edition THE VERY NEXT DAY!! It's a way of life, Seb. If they can do it for Carnaval, they can do it for the airports and the stadia!!

[LuigiVercotti]

FFS...the story stands and falls on it's own merits and if anything is a reflection on the standards of management from the FA or MaFIFA. And Baron if you want to compare and contrast samba schools with the development of major infrastructure such as airports then I'm sure you'd be interested in line dancing at the Tamworth Country Music Festival and the NBN here in Oz.

Frankly I am sure Brazil will be fine...what isn't fine are thr games the media, Blather and the FA are playing.

[gotosy]

FIFA awarded tax-free in Brazil to organize 2014 World Cup

BRASILIA, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian government published on Tuesday in the official Gazette a law that establishes a series of exemptions from federal taxes for the FIFA to organize the 2014 World Cup and the Confederations Cup in 2013.

The exemption enters into force on Jan. 1, 2011, and is one FIFA's requirements to hold the World Cup in the country.

According to the law, for the preparation of the event, FIFA does not need to collect taxes on imported goods (IPI), the contribution to Social Security Financing (Cofins) on imported goods and services, and the Contribution to the Programs for Social Integration and Heritage Formation of the Public Servant ( PIS-Pasep) on imports.

However, the exemption for equipment and construction of the stadia to be used for training the teams in the World Cup's 12 host cities was not authorized by Brazil's Ministry of Finance.

The ministry said the exemption would allow "undue expansion of tax incentives to stadia with the purpose to offer support, whose characteristics deviate from the aims and the reasons justifying the granting of benefits."

According to Brazil's Ministry of Sports, the country gains with the Cup will be greater than the tax exemption granted to FIFA.

The Ministry states that the collection of taxes due to the economic movement generated by the event will amount to about 9.5 billion dollars, while the exemption is estimated at about 600 million dollars.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/sports/2010-12/22/c_13659183.htm

[Bezzi]

Maracana:

[DannyelBrazil]

Bezzi you're doing a great job updating the pics of works in stadia! Love to see the pics! Thank you for this! =]

[gotosy]

Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Brasilia want International Broadcast Center in 2014 World Cup

By The Associated Press (CP)

SAO PAULO — Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and Sao Paulo are all bidding to accommodate the International Broadcast Center during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The three cities turned in their projects to the local organizing committee this week and FIFA is expected to announce the winner by June.

Rio de Janeiro is set to host the World Cup final at Maracana stadium, while Sao Paulo and Brasilia — the nation's capital — are two of the cities vying for the opening match.

It will be the first World Cup in Brazil since 1950.

Canadian Press/AP

[gotosy]

FIFA will decide on World Cup slots next month

ZURICH, Feb 20 (Reuters) - FIFA will decide next month on the prickly question of how many places each continent will be allocated at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, a member of the executive committee was reported as saying on Sunday.

Junji Ogura said the matter would be debated and decided at the next FIFA executive committee meeting in Zurich on March 2 and 3, Japan’s Kyodo news agency said.

A FIFA spokesman told Reuters the meeting had been scheduled and said the agenda would be confirmed in the next two or three days.

The draw for the 2014 qualifying competition is due to be made in Rio de Janeiro on July 30.

Asia Football Confederation president Mohammad Bin Hammam said last month that Asia would not agree to anything less than the four-and-a-half places it has in Brazil.

Australia, North Korea, South Korea and Japan represented Asian in 2010 while Bahrain lost in a playoff to New Zealand, winners of the Oceania qualifying tournament.

Jack Warner, president of the CONCACAF federation representing North and Central America and the Caribbean, has already said that his region want their quota increased to four direct places.

CONCACAF had three guaranteed spots in South Africa last year while Costa Rica lost to Uruguay in a playoff for another place.

South America, which had four-and-a-half places in South Africa, is hopeful of maintaining its quota with Brazil, who qualify automatically as hosts, being an additional team for the continent.

Africa had six teams at the 2010 World Cup including South Africa as hosts, although only one—Ghana—made it past the first round.

Europe had 13 teams at the 2010 World Cup, of which seven were eliminated in the group stage and three made it to the semi-finals.

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=reu-worldfifa

[gotosy]

FIFA keeps 2014 World Cup places per continent same as 2010, will conduct draw for playoffs

ZURICH — FIFA is giving its six continents the same number of qualifying places for the 2014 World Cup as in 2010, but will conduct a draw for the playoff round.

FIFA executive committee members Worawi Makudi of Thailand and Michel d'Hooghe of Belgium told The Associated Press on Thursday there was consensus to open the playoff fixtures to a draw.

They will feature South America's fifth-placed team, CONCACAF's fourth-placed, Asia's fifth-placed and Oceania's qualification winner. For 2010, it was prearranged for a South American team to play a CONCACAF side, while Asia pitted a team against Oceania.

Africa will have five guaranteed places among the 31 qualifiers advancing to Brazil, while four South American teams will qualify in addition to the host.

Europe keeps its 13-team allocation.

CP

[Rob2012]

As much as I detest Blatter, his politics and his organisation in its current state, FIFA does know how to put on a successful World Cup, so words like this are a bit worrying:

Blatter reprimands Brazilian politicians

FIFA president Sepp Blatter reprimanded Brazilian politicians on Wednesday for promising last week that the opening match of the 2014 World Cup would be in Sao Paulo.

Blatter said sporting authorities would decide and questioned whether either Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro - Brazil's two biggest cities - would be ready for the Confederations Cup in 2013, regarded as a dress-rehearsal for the following year's World Cup.

"We have just had the first meeting of the organising committee and it is not decided where the opening match will be played," Blatter told reporters.

"We do not have stadium ready, neither in Sao Paulo, nor in Rio de Janeiro and perhaps they will not be ready for the Confederations Cup in 2013.

"So let us wait and see, but the decision on the... stadium is a sporting decision and not a political decision."

Last Friday, Brazilian politicians, including President Dilma Rousseff, threw their weight behind the country's financial capital Sao Paulo for the honour of staging the opening match, even though work has yet to start on its planned stadium.

Gilberto Kassab, the mayor of Sao Paulo, said the city would "without question" stage the opening match and the sports minister Orlando Silva said Rousseff shared that view.

The Sao Paulo venue is the biggest of many headaches facing the 2014 World Cup hosts where initial worries about crumbling infrastructure and rampant crime have been exacerbated by delays in the building or reconstruction of stadiums.

Sao Paulo initially planned to use the Morumbi stadium until the arena was barred by FIFA and local organizers over a lack of financial guarantees for the necessary rebuilding.

The new stadium will be built by Corinthians, one of Brazil's biggest and most popular clubs. But they plan to build the stadium with a capacity of 48,000, while FIFA require a minimum of 65,000 for the opening match.

Negotiations are taking place over who will pay for the building of the extra 17,000 seats.

There are also legal concerns over the site on which the stadium will be built, with reports suggesting that planning permission will not be a straightforward issue.

Brazil was elected unopposed in 2007 to host the tournament which was earmarked for South America by FIFA under a short-lived rotation system which also brought last year's World Cup to Africa.

[baron-pierreIV]

And the whole offshoot of this fracas is that there is a distinct possibility that football may drop out of Rio 2016 altogether -- which would be the ultimate paradox for the world's largest football-mad nation!! So 3 of those brand new, hoped-for stadia may actually just see international use 1x rather than the 2x they had hoped for.

[gotosy]

UEFA confirms format for 2014 World Cup qualifying with 53 teams chasing 13 spots in Brazil

PARIS — Europe will retain the same format to decide which 13 nations qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, UEFA said on Monday.

UEFA secretary general Gianni Infantino said Europe will enter the same 53 countries which played in the 2010 World Cup qualifying tournament, when nine group winners gained direct entry to the event in South Africa.

The eight best runners-up will be drawn in two-legged playoffs to decide four remaining slots.

The 53 teams will be split into eight groups of six teams and one group of five teams.

Speaking after an executive committee meeting in Paris, Infantino said this proposal will be sent to FIFA for ratification.

The preliminary draw for the 2014 World Cup, which will feature 32 teams, is scheduled for July 30 in Brazil.

Europe now has its lowest share of teams at the World Cup since the inaugural 1930 event, when four travelled to a 13-nation tournament in Uruguay.

Thirteen European teams played in the 1994 World Cup hosted by the United States which was the last with 24 countries.

Europe provided 15 of the 32 teams in 1998 and 2002 — 14 of which went through qualifying while France qualified automatically as the '98 hosts. It also qualified as defending champion four years later, when Japan and South Korea co-hosted. Defending champions are no longer guaranteed a place.

In 2006, Europe was reduced to 13 qualifiers but host Germany was a 14th UEFA representative.

...

CP

[Bezzi]

Asian Zone to play preliminary round for Brazil 2014

Asia will begin the race to the FIFA World Cup 2014™. Ahead of the Preliminary Draw in Brazil on 30 July 2011, teams from the Asian continent will contest a preliminary round of matches. The draw for this first round takes place on 30 March 2011 at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.

The first round will consist of seven home-and-away series, featuring the 14 lowest ranked teams in Asia. The winners of these series will then proceed to a second round.

The draw will take into account the new rankings in the Asian Confederation. These rankings are based on the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa finals as well as the Asian qualifying rounds for the main tournament. The final number of entries was confirmed by FIFA, whereby all teams entered the qualifiers save Bhutan and Guam, who declined the invitation, and Brunei Darussalam, who are still suspended.

Newly crowned Asian champions Japan are the top-ranked team, followed in second place by Korea Republic. Both these sides reached the Round of 16 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Australia and DPR Korea - the two other Asian teams that played in the 2010 FIFA World Cup - and 2010 FIFA World Cup Asian play-off participants Bahrain round out the top five.

Brunei DS, who are currently suspended by FIFA, are the only team not ranked among AFC’s 46 Member Associations.

Rankings for the FIFA World Cup 2014 Asian Qualifiers Round 1

1. Japan,

2. Korea Republic,

3. Australia,

4. DPR Korea,

5. Bahrain,

6. Saudi Arabia,

7. Iran,

8, Qatar,

9. Uzbekistan,

10. UAE,

11. Syria,

12. Oman,

13. Jordan,

14. Iraq,

15. Singapore,

16, China,

17, Kuwait,

18. Thailand,

19. Turkmenistan,

20. Lebanon,

21, Yemen,

22. Tajikistan,

23. Hong Kong,

24. Indonesia,

25. Kyrgyzstan,

26. Maldives,

27. India,

28. Malaysia,

29-30, Afghanistan, Cambodia,

31. Nepal,

32. Bangladesh,

33-34. Sri Lanka, Vietnam,

35. Mongolia,

36. Pakistan,

37. Palestine,

38. Timor Leste,

39. Macau,

40-41. Chinese Taipei, Myanmar,

42-43. The Philippines, Laos

Suspended: Brunei DS

Not participating: Bhutan, Guam.

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1401533/index.html

[baron-pierreIV]

All these play-offs are just kinda dumb. U just know that Japan, the Koreas and Australia will surely get in. Am surprised that China is even below Iraq. They should just battle for the two last spots left.

[gotosy]

Maracana needs new roof, stadium delivery for 2014 World Cup may be delayed

SAO PAULO — Maracana needs a new roof for the 2014 World Cup, possibly delaying the stadium's readiness by a year to 2013.

The stadium was expected to be ready by the end of 2012, but Brazilian football federation president Ricardo Teixeira told local channel SporTV that it possibly won't be ready before 2013. He said the goal remains to have Maracana ready for that year's Confederations Cup.

Maracana will host the World Cup final, just as it did when Brazil organized the tournament for the first time in 1950.

The stadium hasn't been used since last September because of the renovations.

Teixeira said late Wednesday that a new roof was necessary because of "unexpected" problems in the present roof.

In January, Rio de Janeiro city officials found deterioration in some materials used in the roof's structure, but at the time there wasn't enough evidence to confirm it was compromised. The full extent of the problem was discovered after a study by the city department in charge of revitalizing the venue.

According to Teixeira, engineers said it was easier to build a new roof than to fix it. The initial project was to keep the original roof.

It wasn't announced how the changes would affect the renovation cost, which originally was estimated at about $430 million. Some local media reports said it could surpass $600 million now.

Maracana underwent extensive renovation in 2005 to make it ready for the 2007 Pan American Games successfully hosted by Rio de Janeiro.

Teixeira's announcement of problems with Maracana's roof came just days after FIFA President Sepp Blatter criticized Brazil's preparations for the 2014 World Cup. He urged officials to speed up construction work for the monthlong tournament, including at stadiums.

Teixeira denounced Blatter's criticism on Wednesday, but acknowledged that some host cities were facing difficulties.

"We have problems in Sao Paulo and Natal because the stadiums there haven't started being built yet," Teixeira said.

The stadium in Sao Paulo is expected to host the opening match.

Teixeira also said the lack of upgrades in the country's outdated airports remain a big concern, but added that the government was aware of the difficulties and was working to solve all problems.

CP (AP)

[reindeer]

Technically there was no Final in 1950.

[gotosy]

Asian Zone to play preliminary round for Brazil 2014

Asia will begin the race to the FIFA World Cup 2014™. Ahead of the Preliminary Draw in Brazil on 30 July 2011, teams from the Asian continent will contest a preliminary round of matches. The draw for this first round takes place on 30 March 2011 at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.

The draw for the first and second Round of Asian qualifiers:

The 15 winners from the second round will join the top five direct entrants (Japan, Korea Republic, DPR Korea, Australia and Bahrain) in the third round where they will be divided into five groups of four teams each.

2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil – Asian Qualifiers

Round 1

Malaysia v Chinese Taipei

Bangladesh v Pakistan

Cambodia v Laos

Sri Lanka v Philippines

Afghanistan v Palestine

Vietnam v Macau

Nepal v Timor Leste

Mongolia v Myanmar

First leg, June 29

Second leg, July 3

Round 2

Thailand v Afghanistan or Palestine

Lebanon v Bangladesh or Pakistan

China v Cambodia or Laos

Turkmenistan v Indonesia

Kuwait v Sri Lanka or Philippines

Oman v Mongolia or Myanmar

Saudi Arabia v Hong Kong

Iran v Maldives

Syria v Tajikistan

Qatar v Vietnam or Macau

Iraq v Yemen

Singapore v Malaysia or Chinese Taipei

Uzbekistan v Kyrgyzstan

UAE v India

Jordan v Nepal or Timor Leste

First leg, July 23

Second leg, July 28

Round 3

September 2, September 6, October 11, November 11, November 15, 2011 and February 29, 2012

Round 4

June 3, June 8, June 12, September 11, October 16, November 14, 2012, March 26, June 4, June 11, June 18, 2013

Round 5 (AFC playoff)

September 6 and September 10, 2013

Round 6 (Inter-continental playoff)

October 15 and November 19, 2013 (dates to be confirmed by FIFA)

http://cms.the-afc.com/en/tournaments/men-a-youth/fifa-world-cup/34082-2014-fwc-draw

[Victor Mata]

As much as I detest Blatter, his politics and his organisation in its current state, FIFA does know how to put on a successful World Cup, so words like this are a bit worrying:

Blatter reprimands Brazilian politicians

FIFA president Sepp Blatter reprimanded Brazilian politicians on Wednesday for promising last week that the opening match of the 2014 World Cup would be in Sao Paulo.

Blatter said sporting authorities would decide and questioned whether either Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro - Brazil's two biggest cities - would be ready for the Confederations Cup in 2013, regarded as a dress-rehearsal for the following year's World Cup.

"We have just had the first meeting of the organising committee and it is not decided where the opening match will be played," Blatter told reporters.

"We do not have stadium ready, neither in Sao Paulo, nor in Rio de Janeiro and perhaps they will not be ready for the Confederations Cup in 2013.

"So let us wait and see, but the decision on the... stadium is a sporting decision and not a political decision."

Last Friday, Brazilian politicians, including President Dilma Rousseff, threw their weight behind the country's financial capital Sao Paulo for the honour of staging the opening match, even though work has yet to start on its planned stadium.

Gilberto Kassab, the mayor of Sao Paulo, said the city would "without question" stage the opening match and the sports minister Orlando Silva said Rousseff shared that view.

The Sao Paulo venue is the biggest of many headaches facing the 2014 World Cup hosts where initial worries about crumbling infrastructure and rampant crime have been exacerbated by delays in the building or reconstruction of stadiums.

Sao Paulo initially planned to use the Morumbi stadium until the arena was barred by FIFA and local organizers over a lack of financial guarantees for the necessary rebuilding.

The new stadium will be built by Corinthians, one of Brazil's biggest and most popular clubs. But they plan to build the stadium with a capacity of 48,000, while FIFA require a minimum of 65,000 for the opening match.

Negotiations are taking place over who will pay for the building of the extra 17,000 seats.

There are also legal concerns over the site on which the stadium will be built, with reports suggesting that planning permission will not be a straightforward issue.

Brazil was elected unopposed in 2007 to host the tournament which was earmarked for South America by FIFA under a short-lived rotation system which also brought last year's World Cup to Africa.

I said it before and I'll say it again: CUT SÃO PAULO! And Natal if they can't put their act together. And we got a WC with 10 cities as it should've been from the start!

[Bezzi]

See photos of Brazil 2014 stadiums’ progress

Work on the stadiums set to be used at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014™ is making progress.

Photos supplied by consultants for Arena, the company contracted by the Local Organising Committee to carry out technical services, demonstrate how the various projects are coming along. All the photos were taken during March.

The Maracana, one of the main venues at the next FIFA World Cup, has already acquired a somewhat peculiar shape – with only the support framework remaining in some sections.

In the Castelao, work has begun on building the car park, which is located to the side of the stadium.

As far as the Fonte Nova is concerned, the foundation-laying phase is already in progress. Strides are also being made at the Arena Pantanal, as can clearly be seen from the photos supplied.

Cuiabá:

Fortaleza:

Manaus:

Rio:

Salvador:

Brasilia:

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1410643/index.html