By TALES AZZONI
AP Sports Writer
Associated Press Sports
updated 4:41 p.m. ET May 25, 2012
SAO PAULO (AP) - Prosecutors asked a judge Friday to suspend fiscal incentives for the construction of the Sao Paulo stadium that will host the 2014 World Cup opener.
Prosecutors said the incentives were illegally granted by the city of Sao Paulo to the Brazilian club Corinthians and the construction company in charge of building the 65,000-seat venue.
The move could delay construction at the stadium and eventually jeopardize the playing of World Cup soccer in Brazil's financial center and South America's biggest city.
Sao Paulo state prosecutor Marcelo Camargo Milani said in his request that the city "flagrantly violated constitutional principles such as morality and legality," transferring "public capital to private entities."
The prosecutors' office also wants the judge to apply fines of about $855 million to the city, Corinthians and the construction company Odebrecht.
The city said it will fully cooperate to prosecutors, while Corinthians and Odebrecht said they will comment only after being officially notified about the prosecutors' legal action.
Prosecutors said the city did not follow proper procedure to hand out the incentives and made irregular changes to current regulations so it could facilitate the stadium construction.
Milani also asks the judge to cancel the political rights of Sao Paulo Mayor Gilberto Kassab because the alleged irregularities happened during his administration. Milani said the parties directly benefiting from the incentives were Corinthians and Odebrecht.
FIFA initially said Morumbi Stadium would be used during the World Cup, but it eventually said the project lacked enough financial guarantees. Critics said it was a political decision because of an alleged spat between Ricardo Teixeira, then the Brazilian soccer federation president, and Sao Paulo club officials.
Corinthians, Brazil's second-most popular team behind Flamengo, said it would build a stadium, but for only 48,000 people, which would not be enough to host the opener or other later-stage matches.
Local World Cup organizers, the government and club officials eventually reached an agreement, giving the fiscal incentives to facilitate the venue's construction for 65,000.
The stadium was the last to get off the drawing board, and construction began only about a year ago. Work at the venue in Sao Paulo's poor east side is about 30 percent completed, according to the Brazilian government and local organizers. It is expected to be finished by December 2013.
The stadium will host five World Cup matches in addition to the opener, including one semifinal. It will not host matches in next year's Confederations Cup.
Stadium construction is estimated at $400 million, with $195 million coming from loans from the Brazilian Development Bank.
The loans have been criticized because Brazilian officials said when the country was picked to host the World Cup in 2007 that only private money would be used to build stadiums. It also remains possible the government will help pay for the 17,000 seats that were added to the stadium project so it could host the opener.
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? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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