FIFA unhappy with Brazil progress for 2014

World football governing body FIFA will have learned one key lesson from the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa that they have to be on their toes and once in a while criticize the organising nation to force them to work even harder and not become complacent to be ready for the month long football extravaganza.

FIFA insiders think they have a tougher job on hand with Brazil then South Africa. Why? Simply because South Africa wanted to prove to the world that the African continent can organise large scale sporting events, while Brazil sees itself as 'the football nation' and is more focused on winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup then delivering a great tournament.

And there lies a great danger which FIFA has realised and one understands from statements made by FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke on Friday at the Inside World Football Forum in Moscow, the first event towards the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Jérôme Valcke said, "There is a lot of work to deliver. We don't have stadiums, we don't have airports, we don't have a national transportation system in place and we are one month away from the preliminary draw."

"The Maracanã is definitely not currently a World Cup stadium and that's why it's closed. It will be ready at the last minute, a few months maybe, even a few weeks before the tournament if they don't speed up the process. In São Paulo they will not even be able to play the Confederations Cup in 2013 because the stadium will not be ready," Valcke added.

Have the Brazilians themselves realised the problems? A Brazilian friend who works in football simply said no and explained that Brazil is growing fast, but the lack of necessary infrastructure like roads, railways and airports could be a major drawback in the development of the country and that could also have effects on the country hosting the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

It is still three years to go until the FIFA World Cup, but nothing is ready so far or close to completion. Seems like some in Zurich are getting nervous.