体坛英语资讯：FIFA concerned about delays in works for Brazil 2014 World Cup

 The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) on Monday expressed concern over the delay in the commencement of building work for Brazil 2014 Football World Cup, although discharged that the completion of the event in the South American country might be at risk.

In an interview to the site GloboEsporte, the organization's general secretary Jerome Valcke stressed that works have not started yet in many of the stadiums that will host matches in the tournament.

"I received a few reports on the stadiums and they are not good. It is not only Morumbi (Sao Paulo) or Maracana (Rio de Janeiro), but all of them. The deadlines have passed, and Brazil is not in the right direction," he said.

Monday was the second deadline set by FIFA to start building or renewing stadiums, but the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation, Ricardo Teixeira, sent a letter to the organization recognizing some problems.

Valcke said that South Africa has been criticized for shortcomings in the work for the World Cup starting next month, but the situation in Brazil is more troubling.

"People have questioned a lot the Cup in Africa, but Brazil is showing that it is difficult to make a Cup there, too. They got the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, but they have to do what it takes to deserve it," he said.

FIFA does not consider the possibility of changing the host country in 2014 and will conduct a technical inspection on Wednesday in Brazilian stadiums, in addition to reviewing the schedule of works in the 12 cities that have been chosen to host matches.

Last month, Brazil's Minister of Sports Orlando Silva had warned that the government could reduce the host cities from 12 to eight, if urgent measures were not taken to reverse the delay in the works.

According to local press, although all stadiums should be conducting building works, by Monday work had begun in only seven of them.