July 28, 2010
'THEY'LL BE SURPRISED'
Brazilian sports minister to FIFA, critics on World Cup preparations

It is a dance that is done every four years. FIFA fears the next host country of the World Cup is behind schedule and said nation's officials claim otherwise.

It happened with South Africa, which managed to host a World Cup that went without incident.

A similar scenario is being played out in Brazil these days.

In May, FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke criticized Brazil's preparations for the 2014 event.

“I got a report on the status quo of the Brazilian stadiums. I have to say it is not very nice,” Valcke said in May. “There are a number [of stadiums] with red lights already, which is amazing. It is amazing how Brazil is already late. I am talking about a number of stadiums.”

During a conference call on Wednesday, Brazilian sports minister Orlando Silva, Jr. pleaded his case and defended his country's preparations..

“These are the opinions of those who ignore the reality of the country,” he said.

Silva said that FIFA will soon “see the reality close up. They will be surprised with the preparations for the World Cup."

“FIFA will have to do its part," he said. "Because projects for the stadiums were approved only this May, and you could not start work on the stadiums without the projects having been approved.”

Silva addressed the problems with Sao Paulo, which, at the moment, is out of the picture because no money has been slated to upgrade the stadium. Sao Paulo is supposed to host the World Cup opener in 2014.

Silva did address the Sao Paulo issue, saying that the city's mayor "will prvoide in a few days the final definition for the city of Sao Paulo."

"Sao Paulo is the only bottleneck," he added. "The other 11 cities are on a very good pace."