After months of funding troubles, planning and construction delays, the 2014 organising committee, led by FIFA Ex-Co member Ricardo Teixeira, has confirmed that the necessary financial guarantees are in place to charge on with construction of Corinthians' 65,000-seat Itaquerão stadium.
But some Brazilian media appear to have interpreted the announcement as confirmation that South America's largest city will stage the first match of the tournament.
A FIFA spokeswoman told INSIDER today that no decision had been taken on whether Sao Paulo's new stadium should hold the prestigious match as originally planned.
Funded by BNDES, Brazil’s state development bank, and private investors, the venue is being built by Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht at a cost of around $500 million.
But building work on the stadium only began last month. Following the catalogue of troubles that have beset the project, FIFA appears keen to wait a few months to check on its progress before committing to Sao Paulo.
She said the final decision would be made by the FIFA Executive Committee at a meeting on Oct. 20 and 21.
Sao Paulo is still favourite to stage the tournament opener but Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Belo Horizonte and Brasilia are also lobbying hard to stage the showpiece.
Amid the negative headlines surrounding Brazil's World Cup preparations, most relating to slow progress in upgrading stadia and airports infrastructure, the July 29 meeting of the LOC was postponed.
It means FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, who has been critical of Brazil's 2014 preparations in recent months, will not have to face the media on the eve of the preliminary draw in Rio de Janeiro, saving any criticism of World Cup organisers until the draw is over. Valcke is responsible for ensuring World Cup preparations keep on track.
In a statement yesterday, FIFA said: "As has already been announced, with the draw procedures for the 2014 FIFA World Cup preliminary draw having been approved by the FIFA Executive Committee on 30 May 2011, there is no longer any need for a meeting of the organising committee of the FIFA World Cup to take place before the preliminary draw.
"The organising committee will therefore meet in October 2011, some days before the FIFA Executive Committee meeting of 20 and 21 October which will be in charge of ratifying the match schedule of the 2014 FIFA World Cup."
Sao Paulo's stadium will not be ready to host matches in the 2013 Confederations Cup.
With completion scheduled for the start of 2014, there will be no room for slippage on the project and only a few months to test stadium operations before the World Cup.
Rio de Janeiro’s Marina da Gloria is the setting for the 2014 World Cup preliminary draw on July 30.
The national teams of 166 member associations from five qualification zones – Africa, Asia, Europe, CONCACAF and Oceania – will go into the hat. No draw is necessary for the CONMEBOL Zone where teams face each other in a round-robin group.
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