World Cup venue operator fined for construction faults
(02-05 17:14)
The operator of 2014 World Cup venue Mineirao Stadium has been fined one million Brazilian reais (HK$3.9 million) for a series of construction faults.
The 62,000-capacity stadium in Brazil's southeastern city of Belo Horizonte officially opened last weekend but problems were immediately found with venue entrances, parking and the water supply, Xinhua news agency reports.
The penalty followed an emergency meeting on Monday between Minas Gerais state governor Antonio Anastasia and the president of the Minas Arena operating consortium, Ricardo Barra.
"Unfortunately there were some serious problems, mistakes and defects in regard to the operation of the stadium," Anastasia said in a statement.
"We have taken these measures to ensure we correct the problems quickly. The government is going to closely and emphatically monitor the situation."
The Mineirao Stadium and the Castelao Stadium in the northeastern city of Fortaleza are so far the only two venues ready for June's FIFA Confederations Cup, considered an organizational warm-up for the World Cup.
FIFA has given the other four host cities - Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Recife and Salvador -- until April to complete stadium redevelopment work, which had initially been scheduled to finish last December
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