SAO PAULO, (Reuters) – – FIFA is making contingency plans to move World Cup matches away from Curitiba because it believes the stadium may not be ready in time for the kick-off in June, one of Brazil’s biggest-selling newspapers said yesterday.
The report in Folha de S.Paulo did not say how it obtained the information and was dismissed by World Cup officials in the city.
Reginaldo Cordeiro, Curitiba’s World Cup secretary, denied the story and FIFA executive committee member Jim Boyce, who is also a member of the World Cup Organising Committee, said he was unaware of any developments aimed at taking games away from Curitiba.
“No, no, no, this comes from a declaration made by (head of the Local Organising Committee) Ricardo Trade when he was asked by a newspaper in Brasilia if the alternative to Curitiba’s Arena da Baixada would be Gremio’s ground (in Porto Alegre),” Cordeiro told Reuters.
The two cities are around 460 miles (740 kilometers) apart. “Trade replied saying if there was to be an alternative the games would go elsewhere, but not Gremio,” Cordeiro added.
