Blatter World Cup Video Contrasts with Reports of an Unready Brazil

With just 100 days to go before the World Cup opens in Sao Paulo, FIFA President Sepp Blatter took to FIFA.com to declare that Brazil’s World Cup venues are under control.”One hundred days; It’s a long way to go, and it’s a short way to go if there are still problems,” the Swiss says in a video on the world governing body’s official Web site. “But now allproblems are under control and it will be in 100 days an exceptional good start for an exceptional competition.”

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that the South American giant is racingagainst time to complete stadiums, airports, communications infrastructure and transportation systems as the June 12 opening day approaches. Over the weekend, FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said that the organization faced a huge challenge following delays building stadiums, including in Sao Paulo, thevenue for the tournament opener, which is not scheduled to be finished until May, while other stadiums in Curitiba and Manaus remain unfinished, too.

In the FIFA video, Blatter calls Brazil”the country of football,” adding that, “they will receive this competition with open arms and full of their heart.” He declined to mention the widespread protests that overshadowedlast year’s FIFA Confederations Cup, which is considered the World Cup’s warm-up tournament.