Quote:World Cup 2014 stadium suffers test event setback ahead of Brazil tournament's opening match
Updated 8 hours 29 minutes ago
Arena de Sau Paulo
PHOTO: Test event cancelled ... the Arena de Sao Paulo will host the opening World Cup match between Brazil and Croatia. (AFP: Miguel Schincariol)
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Corinthians and FIFA have cancelled a test event at the Sao Paulo stadium that will host the World Cup's opening match and are now scrambling to arrange another game at the venue.
Corinthians were scheduled to play Cruzeiro at the Corinthians Arena on May 29, but the match was cancelled amid fears the 4:00pm (local time) kick-off could provoke traffic chaos in South America's biggest and often hugely congested city.
That match has been rescheduled for the day before and moved to a different venue, Portuguesa's Caninde Stadium.
FIFA now says it will try to reschedule a game for the 68,000-capacity Corinthians Arena on June 1.
Check out the venues that will host the World Cup's matches in Brazil.
Corinthians are scheduled to play an away match against Botafogo in Rio that day, but the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) could swap the fixture to make them the home side.
FIFA's secretary general Jerome Valcke confirmed the rescheduling on Twitter.
The opening match of the World Cup between Brazil and Croatia is due to be held at the stadium on June 12 (June 13, 6:00am AEST).
Corinthians played Figueirense in the first official match there last Sunday, but only 36,000 fans watched the game and FIFA is worried some areas of the ground have not been subject to thorough tests.
"Given the attention drawn from the opening match of the FIFA World Cup, it is vital for the organisers that all facilities will be tested under full match conditions, including the use of temporary seats and associated facilities," FIFA said in a statement.
"These additional installations were not in place when the first test match took place on May 19."