Construction on pace for 2014 World Cup stadium

SAO PAULO (AFP) - Work on Sao Paulo's Arena Corinthians, one of Brazil's 12 host stadiums for the 2014 World Cup, is progressing quickly and will be finished by the end of 2013, the event's local organisers said on Monday.

"There is no worry about delivery within the deadline (Dec 2013)," Ricardo Trade, executive director of operations at the 2014 World Cup's Local Organising Committee (COL), said in a statement by the Corinthians football club.

The statement, released following a joint visit of the site by officials from COL and world football governing body FIFA, said the arena will be 50 per cent completed at the end of this month.

"The construction is advancing at great speed," Mr Gilmar Tadeu, another COL member, said.