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FIFA slams Brazil's World Cup progress
FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke on Friday issued a scathing assessment of Brazil’s 2014 World Cup preparations, saying the future hosts still lacked stadia, airports and transportation.
FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke on Friday issued a scathing assessment of Brazil’s 2014 World Cup preparations, saying the future hosts still lacked stadia, airports and transportation.
“They have much still to deliver,” Valcke said. “We do not have the stadia, we don’t have airports, we don’t have a national transportation system in place.”
Valcke emphasised that FIFA considers the awarding of a World Cup to a host country to be a final judgement. But his unusually blunt remarks came after criticism of Brazil’s preparations by FIFA president Sepp Blatter in March.
Footballer dies
Costa Rica defender Dennis Marshall, who five days ago scored a goal at the CONCACAF Gold Cup, was killed in a road accident on Thursday.
The 25-year-old Marshall, who played for Danish club Aalborg, died in a head-on collision with a truck on a mountain highway in eastern San Jose.
Seeking a hat-trick
Holders Germany launch their bid for a hat-trick of women’s World Cup soccer titles when they take on Canada in the opening game on home soil on Sunday. The 2003 and 2007 winners can count on home backing 80 per cent of the 900,000 tickets for the June 26-July 17 tournament already sold out.
