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Most Brazilian airports being upgraded for the 2014 soccer World Cup will not be ready on time, likely causing serious transport bottlenecks for fans, a government-backed research group said on Thursday.
Only two of 13 airport terminals under expansion are on schedule to be completed by the time the tournament begins in June 2014, while a third might be ready, “if everything goes right,” according to a study by Brazil’s Institute for Applied Economic Research, or Ipea.
Brazil, which will also host the 2016 Summer Olympics, is scrambling to find investment to address severe infrastructure deficiencies — from overcrowded airports and sea ports to poor roads and insufficient public transport in major cities like Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
“The situation is such that it’s increasingly unlikely that these projects will be ready on time,” said Carlos Campos, one of the authors of the study.
Brazil’s government and Cup organizers promised to complete work on airports, stadiums and other related infrastructure as a condition of holding the tournament, the world’s most popular sporting event.
The country’s tourism ministry is expecting between 800,000 and 1 million visitors for the Cup.
Infraero, the state-owned airport authority, has budgeted 1.4 billion reais ($887 million) for upgrades to 13 airports in the 2011-2014 period. Nine airports, eight in cities hosting games and one that helps serve Sao Paulo, are behind schedule, Ipea said.
In addition to the 13 airports being upgraded for the Cup, a brand-new airport in Natal, another World Cup host city, still has no firm date for completion.
So many projects related to the Cup and Olympics are behind schedule that Pele, the Brazilian soccer legend, warned in February that Brazil risks “embarrassing itself.
Ipea put much of the blame for the delay on Infraero, which it said “has a low level of efficiency in the execution of investment programs.” The study urged the agency to take swift action to improve its management.
Even if all 13 airport upgrades were to be ready on time, 10 are expected to be operating over capacity by the time of the Cup, Ipea said. Fourteen of Brazil’s 20 largest airports are already operating at more than 80 percent of capacity.
Brazil will likely have to adopt temporary terminals with remote boarding facilities far from principal buildings to provide capacity needed to move visitors to the Cup and Olympics, the study concluded.
REUTERS

Coach
of Nigeria’s under 23 men’s football team, Augustine Eguavoen has
expressed delight with the outcome of Wednesday’s draws for the 2012
Olympic Games which saw Nigeria’s Dream Team V pitched against their
counterparts from Tanzania.

The draws which
were released by Africa’s football governing body, CAF, will see the
Nigerian team travelling to Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, May 4 for the
first-leg tie before returning home for the reverse fixture billed for
May 18.

The Tanzanians,
during the last round of the qualifiers for the London 2012 Olympics,
eliminated 2000 Olympic gold medallists Cameroun. After losing 2-1 to
the Camerounians in the first-leg tie in Yaounde, the Tanzanians
responded with a similar score line in Dar es Salaam before advancing
via a 4-3 penalty-shoot-out win.

But Eguavoen is
confident his team will not be added to the list of teams eliminated at
the hands of the East Africans, even as he admits that the draws could
had been tougher, as Nigeria could have easily been pitched against the
likes of Egypt, Senegal, or even Sudan who were responsible for the
elimination of Ghana.

“It is not bad. It
could had been worse, so I am happy with the draw as it gives us a good
chance to progress,” said Eguavoen. “That doesn’t mean it will be a
stroll in the park for us as they have got to be respected.

He added: “Any team
capable of holding its own against the Camerounians has got to be
respected. But I am confident. I believe in this team and I’m sure we
will make it to the next round.”

Mini-tournament

The next round will
see the eight teams left in the competition being drawn into two groups
in a mini-tournament to be played in December at a yet-to-be-determined
venue, at the end of which the top three-placed teams will qualify for
the Olympics.

The fourth best placed team will however qualify for a play-off with an opponent from the Asian continent.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Dream Team V will tomorrow leave for Monrovia,
venue of this weekend’s All Africa Games qualifier against Liberia.
Twenty players made the team for the trip and they include senior
internationals Ekigho Ehiosun and Chibuzor Okonkwo who came in as a
replacement for right-back Emmanuel Anyanwu, who is in the Flying
Eagles team to the Africa Youth Championship in South Africa.

A
nine-man team yesterday inspected facilities at the Abuja National
Stadium ahead of the international friendly that is to take place
between Nigeria and Argentina on June 1.

The team which comprised organizers and sponsors of the match also checked out the hotels and other areas within the stadium.

Areas that were
inspected include the media centre, control rooms, media workstation,
camera stands, corporate suites, dressing rooms, and the main pitch, as
well as training pitches at the National Stadium and at the FIFA
technical centre.

The hotels – Transcorp Hilton and Sheraton Hotels – were also looked at.

The team was led by
Jairon Pachon who is the match agent. Others in the crew were Mark
Holden-Aikhomu (Control Risk Security project manager), Niall MacGinnis
who is director of security, Tony Oghoghorie, head of security,
Guinness Nigeria, which is one of the sponsors; Kevin Woods, logistics
director; Ian Watts, Supersport operations manager; Haastrup Femi,
Supersports crew leader; Neal Rawlings, project director and John
Walker, technical director.

They were
accompanied around the stadium by the stadium manager, Victor Osunsanmi
and some Nigeria Football Federation officials which included Idris
Adama who is assistant secretary general, Ademola Olajire, chief media
mfficer and Alizor Chuks, head of marketing.

The team is expected round off its inspection today.

Ghana,
one of Nigeria’s first round opponents at the African Youth
Championship (AYC) have named their final squad for the tournament but
there was no space in the squad for former France junior international
Kelvin Osei who is now out of the tournament after delays in acquiring
a Ghanaian passport for him.

Marseille-born
Osei, who plays his club football with Olympique Marseille and who had
previously captained the French Under-17 side, was part of the squad
that has spent the past two weeks in Naivasha, Kenya but missed out on
the final squad released by coach Orlando Wellington.

Wellington said the midfielder was released by the technical team from Nairobi back to his base in Marseille.

But despite the
unavailability of the five feet, eight inches tall midfielder who
joined Marseille from regional side Olympique Saint Maximinois in 2003
and went on to become a first-team player in 2009, Wellington can count
on the services of nine overseas based players for the AYC.

They include the
Genoa of Italy duo of Richard Baokye-Yiadom and Masawudu Alhassan and
the Hapoel Be’er Sheva of Israel pair of Bright Addae and James Bissue.

The list also
includes Kwame Nsor of French side Metz, Benfica of Portugal’s Enoch
Ebo Andoh and Canada-based Gershon Koffie who plays for the Vancouver
Whitecaps.

The Ghanaians had
initially planned on having as many as 11 overseas-based players in
their AYC squad but were unable to secure the release of Marseille’s
Jordan Ayew, whose brother Andre Ayew captained the Black Satellites,
as the team is officially known, to the AYC title two years ago.

They were also not
able to secure the release of the Italy based duo of Daniel Kofi Agyei
(Fiorentina) and Afriyie Acquah (Palermo).

But irrespective of the absence of these players, the Ghanaian coach is optimistic his side will retain the AYC trophy.

Wellington said
that with nine foreign-based players in his stable, he was confident
his team will make an impact in the forthcoming tournament even as he
revealed the secret behind Ghana’s success at age-grade tournaments.

“We have invested
immensely in the youth and that is why we have achieved a lot. Once you
start with the youth teams, your work as a coach becomes easier
especially when you are conducting any selection,” he said.

He added: “We have
enjoyed our stay in Naivasha where the climatic conditions are similar
to what we are going to get in South Africa. God willing we shall
retain the trophy which we won last year in Kigali, Rwanda.”

Gambia also name squad

Meanwhile, Gambia,
who will be competing in Group B along with Cameroun, Ghana and Nigeria
has also named its final 21-man team for the tournament.

Lamin Sarr, coach
of the team, known as the Darling Scorpions, named the team after its
training at the Brikama Box Bar Stadium.

The list includes
Ousman Jarju of Spanish giants Atletico Madrid; Omar Jassey (San Jose
Earthquake, USA), Omar Colley (Kansas City Wizards, USA), Matarr Jobe
(FC Valour, Iceland), Ebrima Camara (Gonilis FC, Sweden), Ebrima Kanteh
Ndow (FC Salt, Spain), Saihou Gassama (Real Zaragoza, Spain) and
Baboucarr Jammeh (Rush Academy, USA).

Croatia-based defender Lamin Samateh was left out of the squad after his club blocked his release for the tournament.

Manchester United have begun to peak at the perfect time as they charge towards a possible repeat of their 1999 treble after an accomplished win over Chelsea secured a Champions League semi-final spot.
Much of their season has been characterised by a knack of grinding out results without playing particularly well but the performance over both legs of a 3-1 aggregate victory against the London side was all about style and class.
Manager Alex Ferguson has been quick to point out that this season is very different to 1999 because of the injuries they have suffered but his players have recovered just in time for the run-in and returned with a new spark.
“I think we’ve hit our form,” said Ferguson after Tuesday’s 2-1 victory at Old Trafford. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. You’ve seen it in the second half at West Ham (a 4-2 win after being 2-0 down at halftime) and the (first leg) performance at Chelsea, plus the performance tonight.”
The Scot has said the return of key players such as centre-back Rio Ferdinand has been like signing new players but with the added bonus that they already know how to play for the club.
Ferdinand, who started limping early in Tuesday’s 2-1 win at Old Trafford but battled on, was just one of several key figures who were outstanding in a team whose cohesion is growing.
Mexico striker, Javier Hernandez, goal-poacher-in-chief, has been a revelation and his knack of netting at key moments has kept top scorer Dimitar Berbatov on the bench.
Energetic Rooney
Wayne Rooney has gelled better with Hernandez than Berbatov and seems to be revelling in a deeper position behind the Mexican that is proving very effective.
“He (Rooney) is enjoying the position he’s playing in at the moment because it has given him a lot of freedom to use his energy, in that position you do need energy,” Ferguson told a news conference after Tuesday’s victory.
In the first leg, Rooney was given too much space and scored the only goal of the game, and while Chelsea changed their shape to try to restrict him in the return leg he still pulled the strings and used his eye for a long ball to devastating effect.
Similarly effective has been the evergreen Ryan Giggs, who was involved in all three of his team’s goals in the tie, a feat made all the more remarkable by the fact he is now 37.
Giggs knows what it feels like to win the treble and that could be key as United seek success in the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup.
“His experience and composure are vital,” Ferguson said of the Welshman. “He’s just a unique person and player.
“He’s lucky, in the sense he’s got a physique that doesn’t carry any weight, he’s got fantastic balance… He looks after himself. To play at 37 years of age, there must be tremendous sacrifice to do that.”
Ferguson was heading to Germany on Wednesday to find out who his team will face in the Champions League last four, although it is likely to be Schalke 04 who lead holders Inter Milan 5-2 from the first leg at the San Siro.
If United win the semi-final, a trip to Wembley for the final would beckon and they will have an early chance to get a feel for the turf this Saturday when they face local rivals Manchester City in their FA Cup semi-final.

Resounding
victories over Ethiopia in the Africa Nations Cup qualifying series and
another over Kenya in an international friendly match see the Super
Eagles move up just one spot in the latest monthly rankings released by
world football governing body, FIFA, yesterday.

The Eagles formerly
ranked 39th in the world are now in the 38th position while still
maintaining their ranking as the fourth best team on the African
continent.

Thus, the
expectation of some football fans that the 4-0 drubbing of Ethiopia and
the 3-0 victory over Kenya will translate into an appreciable leap has
been dashed.

The Black Stars of Ghana remain Africa’s highest-ranked team moving up the table to now occupy the 15th spot in the world.

Côte d’Ivoire, in
the 21st spot, and Egypt, in the 36th postion, are the other African
countries ranked ahead of Nigeria in the April FIFA rankings.

Meanwhile,
finalists at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Spain and the
Netherlands continue to stride clear atop the world rankings as they
maintain the 1st and 2nd spot respectively after recording victories in
their recent UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying games.

Significant movements

There was however
significant movements below as five-time world champions, Brazil clawed
back to third spot from her previous 5th position while Germany dropped
one place to 4th, same for Argentina that now occupy the 5th position.

Also, Italy
returned to the top ten after an absence of seven months as the Azzuris
leapt from the 11th spot to the 9th position.

There were also
some major movers in the top 50 of this month’s ranking, with Israel
(33rd, up 25), Belgium (37th, up 25), Albania (50th, up 23) and Algeria
(40th, up 15) making the biggest climbs of the teams in the top
half-century.

Four teams –
Montenegro (24th, up 1), Albania, Libya (58th, up 13) and Antigua and
Barbuda (100th, up 1) – are currently in their highest-ever position
since the launch of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking in 1993.

Ranking formula

124 international
matches have been played since the last edition of the ranking five
weeks ago, which has doubled the total number of games played in 2011
to 248.

Of these 124
matches, 50 were qualifiers for confederation championships (29 in
UEFA, 21 in CAF). The other 74 games were friendlies.

For the FIFA rankings, points are calculated on a match-by-match
basis using a formula which takes into consideration the result,
whether it was a tournament, qualification or friendly match, the
strength of the opposition based on their ranking position and the
strength of the region they are from. If a team loses, they receive no
points.