FIFA readies for World Cup draw, puts delays aside

Rising above delays and reports of planned public protest, FIFA is finalizing preparations for Friday's draw for next year's World Cup. The draw at the northeastern Brazil resort of Costa do Sauipe will see world football's governing body draw eight groups of four in a complex system designed to separate teams from the same continent as far as possible. But some groups will contain two European sides, with the Old Continent having 13 of the 32 qualifiers. FIFA has shrugged off Brazilian admissions that six of the 12 venues are running late. Brazilian Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo said the six would not meet a December 31 deadline but would be ready for pre-tournament tests in late January. The exceptions are Curitiba, set only to be fully ready in February, and Sao Paulo, scene of a fatal accident which left two construction workers dead last week and where an investigation is under way. Work at Cuiaba remains behind schedule and Rebelo says the stadiums in Porto Alegre, Manaus and Natal will only be inaugurated in January, partially owing to President Dilma Rousseff's full pre-Christmas agenda as she plans to attend. "There are delays but they will not be significant. What matters is that we are ready to go in January," Rebelo said. "Due to the reduced timeline, FIFA, the LOC (local organizing committee), government and stadium authorities are adjusting the stadium operational program to ensure that the stadiums are delivered and host events prior to the FIFA World Cup without compromising on safety or quality," FIFA said in a statement. A further headache -- albeit one at arm's length -- was a Wednesday announcement by the "anonymousbrasil" protest group that they plan to make plain their opposition not only to government corruption but also the estimated $11 billion cost of staging the World Cup with a Friday march. The group said Wednesday that hosting the draw in the chic Costa do Sauipe resort, well away from urban populations, was a means of "avoiding the formation of protests (whose images) would be beamed round the world by TV." The pressure group urged supporters: "If you don't agree with corruption take to the streets of Salvador on the sixth and tell people." For the draw, one random unseeded European team will go into a different pot from its fellow non-seeded continental rivals and avoid playing a European seed. The five South American countries will also make up a sub-pot in a bid to ensure that three Europeans cannot meet at the group stage. "It's not easy to understand – the first take it took me some time," admitted FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke. England coach Roy Hodgson says geography, rather than who one's rivals are, is the factor on his mind as the team drawn second in Brazil's group faces a marathon travel schedule in the huge host nation. After playing five-times champions Brazil in the June 12 opener in Sao Paulo, that team will then have to fly almost 3,000km to Manaus in sultry Amazonia for their next match. They would then face a similar haul to equally sticky Recife in the northeast for their third group game. By contrast, a luckier draw would entail enjoying far cooler conditions in southern city Porto Alegre. Italy are proposing a two-minute timeout per half to lessen the risk of dehydration in the heat with FIFA maintaining several lunchtime kick-offs in some of the hottest venues. Valcke will oversee the draw -- which gets underway at 1600GMT -- and will be joined on stage by eight former star players, including Englishman Geoff Hurst, the only man to score a World Cup final hat trick. The eldest former player set to appear is 86-year-old Alcides Ghiggia, the last survivor of Uruguay's shock win over Brazil in the deciding match of the 1950 World Cup at the Maracana Stadium. Meanwhile, FIFA has dismissed suggestions that a decision to choose light-skinned model Fernanda Lima and her white TV presenter husband Rodrigo Hilbert to host the event instead of dark-skinned pair Camila Pitanga and Lazaro Ramos was racist. Brazilian officials have stressed the country's racial diversity and multicultural identity are among its major selling points. Source: AFP