Fifa, football’s global governing body, has distanced itself from an investigation into allegations of corruption regarding the construction of stadia for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Earlier this week The Stadium Business reported that a newly-unsealed plea-bargain testimony from engineering group Odebrecht cited irregularities at six venues that featured at the national football team tournament, which is organised by Fifa.
The Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo, National Stadium in Brasilia, Pernambuco Arena (pictured) in Recife, Castelao Arena in Fortaleza, Amazonia Arena in Manaus and the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro were mentioned in the document.
However, while builders and politicians in Brazil have been forced to defend themselves, the governing body has said it had no control over the work and added that all construction was carried out under the management of the individual stadium authorities.
In a statement issued to Bloomberg, the body said: “The procurement of such services were under the sole discretion and control of the respective stadium authorities without any influence or control of Fifa.
“Fifa expects that all parties involved in the organising and hosting of Fifa competitions follow local laws and regulations.”
The comments come after Fifa said in a document issued before the 2014 event, which was won by Germany, that each World Cup host country must design their stadiums in such a way that “allows them to be used in a sustainable manner over the longer term”.
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