THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT has halted work on two temporary tribunes for Sao Paulo’s World Cup stadium after the death of another construction worker, according to media reports.
A new inspection of the Corinthians club stadium to be used for the World Cup opening match between Brazil and Croatia on June 12 was to be carried out today.
The worker died Saturday after an eight metre (26 feet) fall. Three workers have now been killed during the Sao Paulo construction and seven in World Cup work across Brazil.
According to press reports, the man who died on Saturday may not have been wearing safety equipment. His employers have denied this.
The regional labour department ordered construction work halted on the two temporary tribunes until the company carrying out the work installs safety nets.
The two tribunes have a capacity of 20,000 people and the Brazilian organisers are racing to get the stadium ready on time.
Fast Engenharia, the company carrying out the construction, said in a statement to the G1 news website it would carry out a technical inspection today before making any comment on the impact of the latest accident.
FIFA has already extended the deadline once for Sao Paulo. It is now scheduled for delivery in mid-April, though organisers admit the work will not be completely finished.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter said last Thursday that the stadium would be ready for the opening match.
In November, two workers were killed at the Corinthians stadium when a crane fell.
Brazilian authorities are also wrangling over who will pay an estimated 26 million dollars for temporary tribunes in World Cup stadiums.
Sepp Blatter has more blood on his hands – RIP to the poor worker
1500 dead so far in Quatar World Cup building and many more to come unless something is done.
Let’s just hope that it results in some changes in health and safety rules in these Middle Eastern countries. UAE are just as bad when it comes to building luxury hotels.
Are all these lives worth it for the sake of kicking a bag of wind around a field?
Depends on the windbag in question surely?
Good man frank. This is a sports article and not an American conspiracy or aviation incident article. Mixed up eh?
Speaking of a mix up, you lost me with that comment……
I really hope all this rushed work will not result in poor construction, therefore making the stadia unsafe for spectators. Also may it be a lesson to FIFA to pick a country based on mainly it’s current facilities and not what could be built, how much money it wil generate etc. etc… England, for example, is perfectly set up for a World Cup with all the facilities over there! I wonder why they haven’t been succesful for a world cup bid, for one there would be far less travelling for teams that have qualified to go between matches, some of the distances they have to fly from one game to the next is pretty rediculous in my opinion
RIP to the construction worker, very sad.
One of the headline achievements of the 2012 London Olympics is that there were no construction workers killed in the developments – something that is very rare for major sporting events. Of course the work Brazil is undertaking is far greater than what London had to do for the Olympics, and the sad reality of construction worldwide is that accidental workplace fatalities are a reality everywhere. 7 deaths are 7 too many, but it is minuscule when compared with events such as Sochi 2014 (estimated 80) or Qatar 2022 (already estimated 500), and less than the likes of the Athens and Beijing Olympics as well as other recent World Cups.
There is a fear among many Brazilians that the narrative regarding this world cup is being swayed to paint their country in a negative light. Despite what is portrayed most Brazilians are keen to show to the world that they have a modern progressive nation capable of hosting such events. The vast majority facilities have been ready for well over a year and having sat in the Maracana last year I can confirm that it would put any European stadium to shame n terms of modernity and safety.
I will flag one problem though – Brasilia airport is one of the main transfer hubs in the country – it is about a third the size of Dublin airport but carries several times as many passengers. That could be a problem.
Are you mad, I’m just home after spending two years in Sao Paulo, I traveled alot while there and found most Brazilians embarrassed and angry that they will host the world cup. Their airports are no where near big enough, transport in all the major cities north of Sao Paulo is unreliable at best and safety is a major concern.
No doubt all traveling will have a great time albeit because of a deal that is being made with all the major drug dealers in the favelas and still the will have to be a major police presents keeping all the gringos in certain areas.
My advice to anyone going, do not rent a car while there,one wrong turn and you can kiss your bunda (ass) goodbye
I have to agree on not renting a car – not so much because you may wander into a dangerous area, but because Brazilian drivers are every kind of mental.
Obviously there are no go areas, but it is not too difficult to stay to city centres, stadium surrounds and tourist areas which will be well policed. Last year for World Youth Day, a heavy armed police presence on the streets made it very safe for enormous numbers of visitors, and I expect a similar approach for the World Cup.
Much of the focus has been on the stadiums, and this is a red herring. The stadiums are fine, it is the transport that is a problem. Brazil basically does not have any trains. Rio only has one metro line (one more than Ireland mind you) and metros are under construction in Salvador and Sau Paulo. Roads are very crowded in the cities (virtually standstill at times in the megalopolis of Sau Paulo), and as I have said the concept of safe driving has yet to arrive in Brazil. The distances between cities are enormous and so the only way to travel is by plane. From what I have seen, for the most part, the airports, though often lacking in luxuries, should be big enough to cope with the crowds. With the exception of a few routes, most traffic between the big cities passes through Brasilia airport and I simply cannot see how it can cope.
So much for my argument, thanks Noel, now I sound like a sceptic too! I do hope it goes well though, unique country full of wonderful people, Brazil deserves its’s time in the spotlight.
100% agree but it needs to help out poor. What I’m afraid of, is, if all goes well the government will give themselves an enormous pat on the back for a job well done, with very little change for the average Brazilian.
Whats a tribune? Is this a copy and paste article with a bit of google translate thrown in?
England has not been successful cause they wouldn’t pay the back hander going rates that FIFA officials demand. It’s all a farce at this stage, especially what has gone on with Qatar, and continues to go as more workers die.
FIFA really have a lot to answer for as they are destroying the beautiful game.
It cost so much for countries like Brazil, Russia and South Africa to host a world cup, what with new stadiums and infrastructure. It’s an absolute scandal that England haven’t had it since 1966 with them having everything in place already. To make matters worse, FIFA decide to give 2022 to Qutar who want to move it from summer to winter.