Brazil 2014: "Curitiba confirmed as World Cup venue, (but) it’s a race against time" (J. Valcke)

Curitiba and its stadium, the Arena da Baixada, will welcome four of the 64 matches of the Football World Cup held in Brazil from 12/06 to 13/07/2014, announced FIFA's (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) secretary general, Jérôme Valcke on 18/02/2014.

"It’s a race against a very tight timeline. Collective effort by all the stakeholders involved in Curitiba must continue at highest pace," said Jérôme Valcke, adding that financial guarantees were also made.

"We are working towards a delivery in late April, early May, which is very late," said Valcke on 23/01/2014, about the delivery of Curitiba stadium. The secretary general offered a severe warning at his previous inspection, on 21/01/2014, threatening to withdraw the four fixtures from the south Brazilian city.

The modernisation of the stadium in Curitiba, owned by the Atletico Paranaense club, should, according to the original schedule, have been completed in December 2013. Actual costs have amounted to €82m, double the original budget. Since the last inspection by FIFA on 21/01/2014, the number of workers on site…