Three stadiums under construction in Brazil for the 2014 World Cup will not meet FIFA's end-of-the-year deadline and the availability for at least two other stadiums is in question. Despite the World Cup being just six months away, FIFA officials insisted they are not yet panicking.
Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba, Arena de Baixada in Curitaba and Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo - the site where two construction workers were killed last month in a collapse - will not make FIFA's Dec. 31 deadline, BBC reports.
Although the World Cup is right around the corner, FIFA remains - at least publically - confident the stadiums will be ready in time.
"We are not in a crisis mood, looking at an alternative to Sao Paulo but Curitiba is facing the most problems and clearly won't be delivered before February 2014," FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said, via BBC.
The availability of arenas Amazonia in Manaus and Das Dunas in Natal are also in question, according to Mirror. Manaus was described as a "hard hat" area with major construction not yet complete, and Natal still has work to be done.
"We know things are behind schedule, a little, although it seems the situation in Sao Paulo isn't quite as bad as it looked last week," a senior FIFA insider told Mirror on Monday. "Of course, what happened was a tragedy for the families of the workers who died and nobody can forget that.
"But we are sure that things will be built. If it takes until February or March, that should still give us time to do what has to be done."
The World Cup draw takes place on Friday, and the tournament begins on June 12 in Sao Paulo.
