COL visits candidate venues for Training Fields for World Cup in BH

It is now Belo Horizonte’s turn to welcome the committee comprising members of the Local Organizing Committee (COL). Today (7 February) there shall be the start of the inspection of the candidates seeking to be appointed as Official Training Fields (OTFs) during the Confederations Cup in 2013 and also the FIFA World Cup™ in 2014.

The purpose of this inspection is to choose football fields that shall be used for the training of the national teams, on the days preceding the games of both FIFA tournaments. A total of eight candidate football fields shall be inspected, and two shall be selected.

The COL committee shall start their inspection round at 9 a.m. with Toca I, and then at 10:45 a.m. Toca II (these being the former and current training centers of local club Cruzeiro). In the afternoon, the committee shall make its way over to the Baleião Municipal Stadium and Independência stadium. Tomorrow, it shall be the turn of the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais (PUC-Minas) and also UNI-BH University in the morning, and the Lanna Drummond Training Centre (used by América Mineiro) and Cidade do Galo (used by Atlético Mineiro) in the afternoon.

These eight fields were selected by the State and also by the Capital of Minas Gerais, who shall be accompanying this committee, represented respectively by the Project Manager of the Extraordinary State Secretariat for the World Cup, Éder Campos, and by the President of the Executive Committee for the World Cup, Tiago Lacerda.

After the visit, COL shall inform the Secretary of State and also the Executive Committee about possible measures to be taken for adaptation to FIFA standards, if necessary and the city shall then have a time frame for the execution thereof. Apart from the two chosen fields, a third shall also be selected as a standby venue to be used should the need arise.

The committee, which has already been to Porto Alegre, Curitiba, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, then heads off to Salvador next weekend. The COL visits shall end in Fortaleza, on 16 March.

Schedule

Monday 7 February
9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. – CRUZEIRO (TOCA I)
10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. – CRUZEIRO (TOCA II)
2:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. – ESTÁDIO BALEIÃO
4:15 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. – ESTÁDIO INDEPENDÊNCIA

Tuesday 8 February
8:30 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. – PUC-MINAS
10:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – UNI-BH
1:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. – AMÉRICA (CT LANNA DRUMMOND)
3:45 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. – ATLÉTICO (CIDADE DO GALO)