SAO PAULO, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Brazil will miss year-end construction targets for FIFA World Cup venues next year and isn't talking about numerous other deadlines that won't be met before the tournament opens in June 2014.
Other than incomplete stadiums, Brazil faces potentially serious shortages in hotel accommodation, mass transit to sport venues, ill-equipped airports, broken roads and profiteering by service providers, published data indicate.
The World Cup tournaments will begin June 12 with a match in Sao Paulo, but analysts say Brazil's commercial metropolis needs to do more to prepare for the influx of tourists from within Brazil, Latin America and further afield.
Sao Paulo's high crime rates are a major worry and despite draconian police measures under way in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and other urban centers the cities have yet to deal with deep-rooted social problems that are seen behind a relentless incidence of crime, including homicide.
Public anger over government funds going into World Cup preparations instead of poverty and crime reduction spilled into the streets in June. Protests and clashes between demonstrators and police have continued.
Discontent with government officials' handling of the World Cup preparations and public cynicism over corruption in high places remain major flashpoints for public protests.
Officials told FIFA organizers and admitted in public comments nearly all six stadiums under construction will not be ready at the end of this month to meet a FIFA deadline.
Other than construction of venues, numerous targets for refurbishing infrastructure, urban regeneration and public transport systems will not be met, Brazilian news reports said.
Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo announced January as the new deadline for completion of the six major stadiums -- in Sao Paulo, Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Cuiaba, Manaus and Natal. Analysts expect the new deadline to be a major challenge for the World Cup planners.
Six stadiums were completed earlier ahead of the Confederations Cup last June.
Two deaths directly related to construction works renewed public anger and sparked public protests and angry comments from workers' unions and other groups. Not mentioned, however, is a continuing police crackdown on potential trouble-makers that has led to arrests, injuries in street clashes and imprisonment of protesters.
Analysts said they were alarmed by Rebelo's public comments comparing the World Cup preparations to a wedding in which the bride always arrived late. "I've never seen a bride arrive on time -- but never saw a marriage that didn't go ahead." Analysts say Rebelo's comments suggest more delays should be expected.
Aside from slow construction works, protests and possibly a strike are looming, Brazil news media reported. A court's intervention over safety concerns after the death of a worker at a stadium site in Manaus, in the state of Amazonas, added new complications to the Word Cup schedule. The construction firm is facing hefty fines which in turn are likely to cause further delays.
The death of another worker, apparently due to exhaustion, soon afterward highlighted critics' health and safety concerns about Brazil's vast but haphazard World Cup construction program. Two other workers died in November in a crane incident at the Sao Paulo setting for the launch ceremonies.
