Anadolu Agency
SÃO PAULO – Police in São Paulo clashed with protesters and striking metro (subway) workers on Monday, just three days before the World Cup kicks off in the city.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds, some of whom were blocking access to the Ana Rosa metro station. At least 13 people were detained.
São Paulo’s metro workers have been on strike for five consecutive days, and are threatening to continue their walkout until Thursday’s World Cup opening match.
Anadolu Agency
SÃO PAULO – Brazil’s Senate is set to vote on previously-shelved legislation banning corporate election donations after pressure from thousands of ordinary Brazilians, online activist network Avaaz reported on Thursday.
A group of 60 senators signed an urgent vote request for the newly-amended bill after receiving thousands of emails and phone calls as part of an online campaign spearheaded by the network.
“Our politicians have been for sale for far too long, with the World Cup stadiums showing how out-of-control this has become,” Avaaz campaign director Michael Freitas Mohallem said.
FIFA and the LOC will now inspect the six stadiums not used in last year’s Confederations Cup. Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters.
After visiting the six stadiums which hosted last year’s World Cup warm-up, the Confederations Cup, in January, the final round of inspections will visit the remaining six stadiums – in São Paulo, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Cuiabá, Manaus and Natal.
LOC stadiums operations manager Tiago Paes said the inspection tour was a final chance to “consolidate operational plans” and would allow the various World Cup departments, from security to catering, to make sure everything planned over the last few years is in place.
First on the list is São Paulo’s Arena Corinthians, also known as the Itaquerão, which will host the World Cup opener on 12 June between Brazil and Croatia.
But the 65,800-capacity stadium is now causing the biggest headache for soccer’s world governing body, as it is still at least six weeks from completion.
The Brazilian construction company working on the stadium, Odebrecht, says it will be operational by 15 April, but Corinthians, the soccer team behind the work, says some items will take longer, including some VIP boxes and the all-important big screens.
Curitiba’s Arena da Baixada and the Arena Pantanal in Cuiabá are also as yet unfinished and work on both is expected to go to the wire.
Even if the stadiums are completed on time, there are concerns that temporary structures, such as those set to house broadcast teams and sponsors, may not be.
FIFA said its secretary general, Jérôme Valcke, is expected back in Brazil next week for a “series of meetings” to discuss World Cup preparations. Inspection teams are expected to report their findings back to him on 27 March in Rio de Janeiro.
The twelve stadiums were meant to have been ready by December 2013 to meet FIFA’s deadline and allow for the venues to be tested but when the New Year arrived, six of the stadiums were not ready.
Host cities are now working round the clock to get both stadiums and associated infrastructure projects ready, or at least in some working form, for this June’s much-anticipated tournament.
Written for Anadolu Agency
Ben Tavener 