BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil won’t be “100 per cent ready” to host the 2014 World Cup, as work on two of the stadiums won’t be completed in time, former World Cup winner Romario said in an interview published yesterday.

“I think that (Brazil) won’t be 100 per cent ready. Of the 12 stadiums (that are to stage World Cup events) maybe 10 will be ready,” the retired football star said in his interview with the magazine Istoe, which was carried on social networks.

“As to work on public transportation, none of the cities involved will be able to complete it fully,” said Romario, who is now a lawmaker with Brazil’s Socialist Party (PSB).

He also warned that the total cost for staging the World Cup could jump from an estimated $44 billion to $55.5 billion.

Brazil is racing to build or renovate 12 stadiums in time for the 2014 event, and Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo late last year pledged that work on the venues largely would be completed ahead of schedule.

A controversial figure on and off the park when he played as a striker for Brazil and a number of top clubs in Europe and South America, Romario has been critical of both the World Cup organisers and of FIFA, world football’s governing body.