CURITIBA, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's troubled Arena da Baixada stadium will stage its first World Cup test event on March 26, local officials said on Monday.
But the venue in Brazil's southern city of Curitiba will not be officially ready until April 30, just six weeks before football's showpiece event.
The announcement comes less than a week after the game's governing body FIFA decided to keep the stadium on the World Cup schedule, despite severe construction delays.
It is one of four World Cup stadiums yet to be ready for the June 12-July 13 tournament, despite a December 2013 deadline imposed by FIFA.
The test event is expected to be open to just 10,000 fans, less than a quarter of its final capacity.
Officials also said the stadium's redevelopment budget has risen to 330 million reais (141 million US dollars), up from an original forecast of 184 million reais.
Arena da Baixada will host four World Cup matches: Iran-Nigeria (June 16), Honduras-Ecuador (June 20), Australia-Spain (June 23) and Algeria- Russia (June 26).
|
