(WFI) FIFA officials will travel to Brazil next week to seek assurances from 2014 World Cup organisers that a new Sao Paulo stadium plan can secure the necessary financial backing to ensure South America's largest city is part of the tournament. Sao Paulo's participation in the World Cup has been a source of major concern for FIFA over the past year.
Sao Paulo's Morumbi Stadium was originally slated to host the opening game but earlier this year was dropped from Brazil's list of proposed host stadia due to a lack of financial guarantees for renovations to meet FIFA requirements.
Brazil's sports minister Orlando Silva said only two weeks ago that the city's status as the host of the opening match was in doubt because local authorities had been slow to get guarantees together a viable stadium plan.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter and secretary general Jerome Valcke will be keen to approve the alternative stadium proposal when they meet with 2014 local organizing committee chiefs, including FIFA Ex-co member Ricardo Teixeira, on the sidelines of the Soccerex Global Convention in Rio de Janeiro in 10 days time.
