Electronic Arts confirm Fifa World Cup 2014

During the most recent conference call with investors, Electronic Arts revealed that it will launch at some point games: The Sims 4, UFC, EA Sports FIFA World Cup 2014 and Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Not yet known whether FIFA World Cup 2014 will be available only in digital format, as was the case with   UEFA Euro 2012 which was released as a DLC for FIFA 12.

World Cup Tickets Will Go On Sale In August, FIFA Says

Tickets for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil will go on sale on August 20.

FIFA confirmed fans will have the chance to buy tickets from the organisation's website during the first phase of sales.

Ticket prices are scheduled to be confirmed on July 1, the day after the Confederations Cup final in Rio de Janeiro. 

FIFA has previously said it expects around 3.3 million tickets to be available for the 64-match flagship tournament which runs from June 12 to July.

The first round of ticket sales will be allocated in a worldwide lottery with further briefs available after the 32-team lineup is confirmed in November.

The World Cup draw will be conducted on December 6 in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil.

Partner Program for 2014 World Cup in Brazil Sold Out

Bloomberg : The partner program for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil has sold out, Jerome Valcke, general secretary of soccer governing body FIFA, said. Latin American sports retailer Centauro was the final company to join FIFA's commercial program, Valcke said.

Bomb-detecting robots at WC 2014

To increase the security at the upcoming Football World Cup in Brazil in 2014, the Brazil government will reportedly use a fleet of robots that are usually used to neutralize roadside bombs and inspect areas for traces of explosives.

The battle-tested remote controlled iRobot 510 Packbots are able to climb stairs, submerge in a metre of water and have multiple high-resolution cameras and are the same robots which examined the car allegedly hijacked by the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Sky News reports.

According to the report, the Brazilian authorities are spending 7.2 million dollars to deal with any security threat from a distance at the World Cup show and also will be setting a precedent for the Olympics to follow two years later.

The government will also be spending additionally millions of dollars on face-scanning glasses which can scan 400 faces a second at a distance of 45 metre to spot potential hooligans based on a criminal database, the report added.

Biological passports for World Cup 2014

Every player at the tournament will be required to have a biological passport, the sport’s world governing body announced today.

FIFA intend to introduce the system of biological profiling at this year’s Confederations Cup in Brazil, as part of the worldwide crackdown on doping in sport and it should be fully operational by the next World Cup.

A delegation from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) met FIFA officials at their Zurich headquarters on Thursday, and WADA president John Fahey said his agency was “very satisfied with the commitment of FIFA on the biological profiles”.

FIFA medical officer Michel D’Hooghe said: “FIFA was the first international organisation for team sport to start with longitudinal profiles.”

He explained that FIFA is developing plans to introduce profiling, including a steroid profile through urine and a blood profile, for the Confederations Cup, where in- and out-of-competition tests would be conducted on all participating players, as well as unannounced blood testing at training camps and games.

“And it’s our commitment to have all players participating at the 2014 FIFA World Cup having biological profiles,” he added

Biological profiling is considered one of the most effective methods of detecting the use of performance-enhancing drugs and blood boosters like EPO.

EPO was first tested for by FIFA at the 2002 World Cup where all players had to underego urine and blood testing and whenever the results were abnormal, an EPO test was performed. All results were negative. FIFA is also developing the hormonal profiling project, a new initiative in collaboration with the WADA-accredited laboratory in Switzerland.

“There is always more which can be done in the fight against doping, but we know FIFA has always been serious in this domain,” Fahey said.

Blatter: 2014 World Cup will have goal-line technology

The world governing body are using two systems, Hawk-Eye and GoalRef, at the Club World Cup in Japan, with one of them to be used at next year's Confederations Cup.

"One of these two systems - we are not going to take both - but one of the two will be used at Confederations Cup and at the 2014 World Cup," Blatter said in Tokyo.

"There were no critical decisions so far," the Swiss added before Sunday's final between Chelsea and Brazil's Corinthians in Yokohama.

"We will make an assessment after the final matches tomorrow. For the time being, we can only say it works."

The British-designed Hawk-Eye, used successfully for many years in cricket and tennis, relies on seven high-speed cameras set up at different angles covering each goal.

GoalRef, a Danish-German project, uses an electronic coil inside the ball and low magnetic waves around the goal.

"The referees are happy to have this help for them because they know now if there is a conflicting situation they will get the accuracy to say if was a goal or not," said Blatter.

"We were speaking of goal-line technology since the beginning of 2000. We had it in the 2007 Club World Cup with the (Cairos) chip in the ball system.

"We saw it didn't work so well so we put the goal-line technology on ice until we had a system that is accurate - and then look what happened.

"In the 2010 World Cup, you remember Lampard scored a wonderful goal (against Germany) which landed at least 70 centimetres behind the line.

"The officials couldn't see it, wouldn't see it - I don't know. But anyway the game continued.
"At that time as president of FIFA, I said if I was still president of FIFA in 2014 then we cannot afford to have the same situation when an accurate system exists."

Luzhniki Stadium is host of 2018 Fifa World Cup Final

FIFA approved stadiums for the opening match, semifinals and final of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow will hold the opening match, one semifinal and the final. World Cup Stadium in St. Petersburg will host the other semifinal.

The executive committee of soccer's governing body Friday also advocated having a defibrillator at every stadium. The decision follows the collapse of Bolton's Fabrice Muamba at an FA Cup match March 17. The midfielder's heart stopped for 78 minutes. A cardiologist sitting among Tottenham fans left his seat to treat him and helped saved his life.

FIFA's executive committee next meets in Zurich in March.

All World Cup Stadiums will be ready

Manaus, one of the 12 cities due to stage soccer World Cup matches in Brazil in 18 months, will be ready on time, despite fears expressed by FIFA, Brazil's deputy sports minister Luis Fernandes said on Wednesday.

"There is no threat whatsoever to any of the 12 host cities not being ready in time," Fernandes told international journalists. "We are confident that all the host cities are confirmed and there are no threats to any of them."

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke:
"For us, the Brazilian government and our partners at municipal and state level the World Cup is an historic opportunity to ferment national development and that involves establishing regional development throughout the country," Fernandes said on Wednesday.

"Manaus is in the heart of the Amazon jungle and that has added to the complexity of organising the World Cup there. It is not an area that has easy access as other cities do so it demands special attention because of the specific nature of the city.

"But we are in continuous discussions with the state government in terms of guaranteeing that all essential investment in terms of having the World Cup there is in place.

"I don't think it is correct to say it is behind schedule with respect to what is essential for the World Cup to be there but there are a number of special challenges. Boats have to get there because they are going to be used as accommodation during the World Cup. We have to discuss whether people will stay there for the games or stay in other regions and fly in for games. There is no obstacle in place that will threaten Manaus hosting matches in 2014."

 Fernandes said the government were well aware that operations and management of Brazil's airports needed to be improved before both the World Cup and next year's Confederations Cup tournament which is taking place in six of the 12 World Cup venues.

Nacional Mané Garrincha

Vizualizare hartă mărită Full name - Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha

Location -  Garrincha, Brasilia , Brazil

Surface - Grass

Capacity - 70064

Field - 105 x 68 m

Itaipava Arena Pernambuco

Full name - Itaipava Arena Pernambuco

Location -  Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

Surface - Grass

Capacity - 46154

Field - 105 x 68 m

WC Teams - BRAZIL

Fifa Member- 1923

Confederation - CONMEBOL

Nicknames - Canarinha( Little Canary) ,A Seleção( The Selection) ,Verde-Amarela(Green and Yelow)

Head Coach - Luiz Felipe Scolari

Captain - Thiago Silva

WC Best - Winner : 1958, 1962, 1970,  1994, 2002.