SAO PAULO, Brazil — Brazilian organizers announced Monday that the stadium hosting the opening match of the Confederations Cup in two months will not be finished by next Sunday as expected, prompting FIFA to express "great concerns" with the unexpected delay.
Local authorities said the Estadio Nacional in Brasilia will only be ready on May 18, just three days before FIFA will take over the venue to prepare it for the Confederations Cup’s opener between Brazil and Japan on June 15.
FIFA said it will have a meeting on Tuesday with the host city, the construction companies in charge of the venue, the federal government and the local World Cup organizing committee to "evaluate in detail the situation and gain a better understanding of the adjusted schedule for the delivery of the stadium in time for the necessary test events" ahead of the opening match.
"FIFA and the LOC have taken note of Brasilia’s statement with great concerns," football’s governing body said in a statement.
The governor of Brasilia, Agnelo Queiroz, is also expected to participate in the meeting in the nation’s capital.
FIFA said it would be ideal to have three test events in each of the six venues ahead of the Confederations Cup, but Secretary General Jerome Valcke recently admitted that at this stage two would be fine.
Local organizers said the delay was caused because of a problem with the pitch installation. They blamed excessive rain in the region recently, which caused the disruption of the installation schedule.
"It has been raining hard for 15 days, including at night, and that hasn’t allowed the draining system to be installed properly," said Claudio Monteiro, the government official responsible for World Cup preparations in Brasilia.
He said there could be irreversible damage to the pitch if the stadium’s opening wasn’t changed.
Organizers said the stadium in 96 per cent finished and will be virtually completed by the end of the week. They said the pitch is expected to be installed by the end of April.
FIFA will take control of all Confederations Cup venues on May 21. It originally wanted all stadiums ready by last December, but it made an exception in Brazil because of delays with several venues, including at the Maracana Stadium, which will host the tournament’s final in Rio de Janeiro on June 30.
The Brasilia stadium was one of the venues which had also missed the April 15 deadline set by local organizers. Jose Maria Marin, the president of the local organizing committee, had said that the venues not ready by that date would be excluded from the competition played among continental champions.
FIFA has already said that it will not accept these kinds of delays ahead of the 2014 World Cup. The governing body expects all 12 stadiums ready by the end of this year.