FIFA Says No Decision on World Cup Final Venue

No decision has yet been made concerning the venue of the 2014 World Cup final despite comments attributed to FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke that it would be staged in Rio de Janeiro, world football's governing body insisted on Thursday night.

"Jerome Valcke merely evoked the possibility of a final in Rio. The official decision has still not been taken," FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot told Agence France Presse.

The final decision will be made at FIFA's next executive committee meeting on October 20-21 in Zurich, when the venue for the opening match will also be decided.

Valcke had been quoted in the Brazilian press as saying: "It's quite obvious where the final should be played. It's not confirmed, but if you think about it, there are not many cities in Brazil where the final should be played.

"There's one stadium in Brazil, you can imagine where the final should be played, where it was 61 years ago."