Brazil facing "a tight deadline" for the 2014 World Cup (Aldo Rebelo, Brazilian Sports Minister)

"Brazil is facing a tight deadline" in its stadium construction programme for the 2014 World Cup, Brazilian sports minister Aldo Rebelo admitted on the 13/08/2013.

Out of the twelve venues that will be used for the 2014 World Cup from the 12/06 to the 13/07/2014, six were used during the Confederations Cup (from the 15 to the 30/06/2013). The other six should normally be ready before the end of 2013 in order to be tested during the first half of 2014.

"We can get everything done in time, but we will need to speed up the pace of the construction work," the minister said at a hearing at the Brazilian Senate. Arena de Sao Paulo, which will host the opening match, on the 06/12/2014, is more than 80% completed, but the other five non-completed stadia, those of Cuiaba, Curitiba, Manaus, Natal and Porto Alegre, have achieved only 70% of the construction work.

"It’s possible to intensify the work now by adding more engineers and more workers," Aldo Rebelo said. "We couldn’t do that in the earlier stages, but now we can," he added.