New Zealand Cricket's Friday night Twenty20 matches will be played in Westpac Stadium, in Wellington, New Zealand during November while the nearby Basin Reserve undergoes remedial work. NZC confirmed its "long-awaited schedule," with the T20 competition stretching from Nov. 2-Jan. 21. The season will include two televised matches under lights at the stadium, with Wellington hosting Canterbury on Nov. 9 and Auckland a week later (DOMINION POST, 9/5). ... The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) will start construction on the Cidade de Futebol (City of Football) project in '14. The project will cost €10M ($13M) and UEFA (€3M/$3.8M) and FIFA (€1M/$1.3M) will cover 40% of the cost. The new site will have a stadium with capacity of 1,000, five training grounds, the FPF headquarters, a multipurpose pavillon and two hotel units. The project is scheduled to be finished by June '15 (O JOGO, 9/5). ... The Cambodian Federation of Rugby kicks off its new National Rugby Academy with its first training session at Olympic Stadium on Wednesday. The academy will initially be made up of 30 developing players aged between 17 and 22 hailing from Phnom Penh-based charity organizations such as ASPECA and PSE (PHNOM PENH POST, 9/5).
CRUNCH TIME: The Arena de Corinthians in São Paulo, Brazil "saw a significant advance" in construction during the month of August. The stadium, which will host 2014 World Cup matches, is now 48.74% finished (LANCENET.com.br, 9/4). ...The Arena da Amazônia in Manaus, Brazil is 45% done according to reports from the company in charge of the stadium's construction. The arena is scheduled to be finished by Dec. '13 and will host four World Cup matches (PORTAL2014.org.br, 9/4).
