Arena da Baixada Stadium; Photo Credit:- Copagov
After visiting the Arena de Sao Paulo on Tuesday 22nd in the morning, the FIFA secretary General Jerome Valcke and the local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the 2014 FIFA World Cup headed to Arena da Baixada that is located in Curitiba on the same day but in the afternoon.
In the accompaniment of the Brazil Minister of sports, Aldo Rebelo and Ronaldo who was representing the Local Organizing Committee for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, the FIFA secretary general toured the stadium with the aim of finding out how the completion job is progressing.
The other dignitaries that were present during the visit were Parana Beto Governor, Gustavo Fruet who is the mayor of Curitiba and Mario Celso Petraglia the chairman of Atletico-PR.
The Brazil which is the hosting country for the 2014 FIFA World Cup has suffered some turn backs the main ones being the stadiums which are not completed as per the scheduled time.
It is for this reason that Jerome is paying visits to those stadiums that are yet to be completed so as to find out whether it will be possible for them to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup matches.
After having a meeting with the local authorities, Valcke finished the visit of Arena da Baixada by holding a press conference. He said that a lot of works in the stadiums are yet to be done but hopeful they will be completed in time.
He said that on 14th May there will be a test match being played in this stadium with the stadium full packed just as it will be in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. On the other hand, the Brazil sports minister said that he is very optimistic when it comes to the completion of the stadium.
He also thanked the state government of Parana, Curitiba City and Atletico paranese who together have been able to overcome the challenges they were facing.
The chairman of Atletico-PR said that he had sleepless nights but is happy that the work at the stadium is progressing well. He said that the stadium will be complete and ready for the test match.
Mario Celso Cunha said that with just one month to the kickoff, the relevant parties have agreed to play their part. Curitiba World Cup municipal Secretary said that Curitiba should always continue with the transparency example they are showing to the world.