Brazil starts 100-day countdown to the Fifa Confederations Cup Brazil 2013

BRASÍLIA (7 March 2013) - One hundred days before the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 and the first kick-off between Brazil and Japan at the Mané Garrincha National stadium in Brasília, two of the tournament’s six arenas have been completed and are in use, while four other stadiums are in the final stages of construction.

The Mineirão stadium in Belo Horizonte and the Castelão stadium in Fortaleza were inaugurated in December 2012. At the Mineirão, the scheduled match between Brazil and Chile on April 24 will serve as an official FIFA test event. The stadium will also be the venue of a Paul McCartney concert on May 3.

According to Brazil’s Minister of Sport Aldo Rebelo, the federal government in partnership with host cities will organize a series of meetings in the next few days to discuss operational aspects of the event.

“We have just finished the round of visits to Recife and Belo Horizonte. The government will make another six visits together with representatives from the municipality, the state and Local Organizing Committee, in order to assess all operational plans in all important areas of the Confederations Cup," Minister Rebelo said today during a press conference in Rio de Janeiro at which FIFA announced a record 522,000 tickets have been sold to Confederations Cup matches to date.

At the Fonte Nova stadium in Salvador, attention is being given to the finishing touches and a number of tests are being run on several systems, such as safety and security, firefighting, electrical, information technology, radio, telephone and hydraulics. The stadium is expected to be inaugurated on April 7 with a local competition between Bahia and Vitoria. In the Confederations Cup, the biggest match to be held at this stadium will be between Brazil and Italy on June 22.

In Brasília, at the National Mané Garrincha stadium, the assembly of the roof is in its final stage. Similar to an “inverted bicycle wheel" system, the roof is made up of a prestressed structure with metal cables and trusses covering all 71,000 seats. When the roof is finished, the seats will be assembled and the pitch will be laid down. The stadium, which will be the stage of the tournament’s opening match, will be inaugurated on April 21, the anniversary of Brazil’s capital city.

Over 90 percent of construction at the Pernambuco stadium in São Lourenço da Mata (Recife metropolitan region) has been finished. The stadium's stands are ready and the seats are being assembled. The roof was completed at the end of February and the ground’s inauguration date has been set for April 14.

In February, the assembly of the roof and seats began at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, which will be the stage of the tournament’s final match.   Over 5,000 builders are at work on the stadium which will have a capacity of 79,000 when ready. The stadium is scheduled to be completed in April. On June 2, the stadium will be the stage for a Brazil and England friendly.  

Brazil will also host the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil.  For more information on Brazil’s preparations, please visit: http://www.copa2014.gov.br/en

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