19 Feb 2014

Curitiba to remain World Cup venue

11:24 am on 19 February 2014

The Brazilian city Curitiba will remain a venue for this year's football World Cup but world governing body Fifa says progress must continue at the "highest pace".

The Arena da Baixada in the south of the country was one of six venues to miss an initial December 31st deadline for completition.

Organisers brought in hundreds of extra workers to meet building requirements and avoid being the first ground to be dropped from a World Cup.

The 40,000-seat stadium will stage four group matches at the tournament.

Last month FIFA warned that Curitiba could be excluded unless work speeded up, with secretary-general Jerome Valcke commenting that work was seriously behind schedule.

The World Cup starts in June.