Copa America quarterfinal moved

FIFA has decided the first quarterfinal of the Copa America cannot be played in La Carolina stadium in Barinas because of its low capacity. Instead, the game will move to Estadio Puerto La Cruz in the eastern state of Anzoátegui.

The interesting thing about this is the game was originally suppose to take place at Maracaibo's 40,000-capacity Jose Encarnacion Romero stadium before it moved to the 27,500-capacity stadium in Barinas. The fact that Barinas stadium is in the home state of President Hugo Chavez adds another dimension to everything. In moving the game for the second time FIFA said the smaller stadium was "insufficient to accommodate a match of this nature," but why did they allow it to move to a smaller location in the first place?

Here is the really interesting part:

The Venezuelan government has spent at least US$1 million (?750,000) to construct two new stadiums, remodel seven others, and renovate airports and surrounding areas for the tournament, which is being hosted in Venezuela for the first time from June 26 to July 15. But the projects have suffered from delays due to labor disputes and problems with bonus payments to workers.

Could all these moves have something to do with these delays?

Between the threat of violence against boycotts and the moving stadium situation, Copa America 2007 might turn out to be more interesting off the pitch then on.