(ATR) FIFA awards Sao Paulo the Brazil 2014 World Cup opener, ending months of speculation that South America's largest city would be overlooked to stage the prestigious match because of stadium financing and construction troubles.
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke revealed details of the match schedules for the 2014 World Cup and 2013 Confederations Cup at a ceremony in Zurich on Thursday that was staged for Brazilian TV.
Sao Paulo's 65,000-seater Itaquerao Stadium, currently being built for Corinthians, will host the opening match featuring Brazil at 5 p.m. local time on June 12, 2014. Other group stage games are slated for 1 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Sao Paulo will also stage one of the semi-finals, with Belo-Horizonte holding the other. Both will be played at 5 p.m.
Rio's iconic Maracana Stadium is the destination for the World Cup final at 4 p.m. on July 13.
In contrast with South Africa 2010, Valcke said that only one game would be held on the first day; two were staged on the opening day of the 2010 World Cup.
Valcke, who revealed that 57 versions of the match schedule had been discussed by organizers before arriving at an agreement, also said teams will not be based only in one city during the group stage but must travel around the world's fifth largest country.
He said this was "to make sure host cities have the chance to have all the best teams".
But this marks a major U-turn from FIFA's stance last year and will not please fans, who might now expect to fork out thousands more dollars to follow their teams at the tournament because of the additional flights involved.
Last year, Valcke had claimed the World Cup could be divided up into four clusters of venues for group games, a move specifically aimed at limiting travel times and reducing costs for fans.
The four-cluster concept was a key element of Russia's successful bid for the 2018 World Cup. Could this now be scrapped?
In FIFA's evaluation report on Russia's bid published days before the Dec. 2 host city announcement, transport was highlighted as high risk. Even with the "cluster" concept, which matches up relatively close cities, the distances involved were considered "very long" and the country’s transport infrastructure inadequate.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter was also at the Thursday ceremony that wrapped up the first day of the FIFA Executive Committee's two-day meeting.
His reforms were not part of Thursday's discussions with Ex-Co colleagues. They are on tomorrow's agenda.
Relief in Sao Paulo
Rumors had circulated since the preliminary draw in July that Brasilia or Rio de Janeiro could get the 2014 World Cup opening match because of concerns over Sao Paulo's stadium project getting off the ground.
Sao Paulo's World Cup leader Gilmar Thaddeushas lobbied hard, assuring chief organizer Ricardo Teixeira and FIFA that the city will deliver on its pledges for the 2014 tournament.
But with work only starting on the stadium in recent months, it won't play a part in the 2013 Confederations Cup.
Commenting on the selection procedure for the match schedule, Brazil 2014 president Ricardo Teixeira explained Thursday that tournament organizers and FIFA looked at the economic potential of cities and their stadium plans.
"We must also see where football was born; it was born in Sao Paulo ... and the final couldn't happen anywhere else but Rio," he said.
The 2013 Confederations Cup will be staged in four to six cities. Valcke announced that Fortaleza, Rio, Belo Horizonte and Brasilia are confirmed with Recife and Salvador possible hosts if their stadia projects are on track. A final decision is scheduled next summer. The opener is in Brasilia and the final in Rio.
The 64 matches of the World Cup will be played in 12 cities.
Ongoing delays with stadia and the sluggish modernization program for the country's outdated airports infrastructure continues to concern FIFA.
But Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff has insisted work on nine of the stadium projects for the World Cup will be completed next year.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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