England's Football Association (FA) has confirmed it needs a new sponsor for the FA Cup after Budweiser decided not to renew its £9m-a-year deal. The current deal with the US drinks giant expires at the end of the season, and the search is on for a replacement for the 2014-15 competition.
A worker died in an accident while working outside the World Cup stadium in the Brazilian city of Manaus, local authorities and the Sports Ministry said. The Amazonia Arena, which should have been completed in December according to FIFA's original deadline, is behind schedule and workers were rushing to get the job finished.
A blackout late Tuesday hit eleven states of Brazil, six of which are scheduled to host the 2014 World Cup next June. Apparently a peak of demand caused by a heat wave had the grid down, but the government of President Dilma Rousseff attributed the incident to a disturbance in the National Integrated System Operator (ONS).
A Brazil assistant coach says it is “a joke” that the country’s government took so long to begin the infrastructure work needed for this year’s World Cup which is scheduled to begin in June.
Waving flags, carrying banners and chanting there will be no Cup at least 1,000 demonstrators protested in Sao Paulo on Saturday against the World Cup that Brazil will host later this year in a demonstration that devolved into violence late in the night.
Curitiba risks being dropped as a venue for this year's World Cup finals if work on the Arena da Baixada stadium there fails to make significant progress, FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said on Tuesday. Curitiba is set to host four group matches, including the meeting of holders Spain and Australia.
Avianca Brasil has joined Azul in becoming the second Brazilian airline to promise to cap prices for the upcoming football World Cup, which opens June 12 in Sao Paulo. Avianca said it would match Azul and limit one-way fares to a maximum of 999 Reais (425 dollars).
Brazil has created a special riot force to help police control demonstrations expected during the World Cup later this year. Colonel Alexandre Augusto Aragon, who heads the elite National Security Force, was quoted in local news on Friday as saying that 10,000 riot troops selected from state police forces throughout Brazil will be deployed in the 12 cities hosting World Cup games June 12-July 13.
Reports from stadium operators in Brazil have revealed that the most expensive of the 12 stadiums built or renovated for the 2014 FIFA World Cup has a leaking roof, less than eight months after it was finished.
FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke says there is a huge amount still to do in preparations for the World Cup. In his end-of-year statement on FIFA.com, the Frenchman urges Brazil 2014 organizers to work flat out in the months before the June 12 kick-off in Sao Paulo to deliver on their promises.