By David Gold
November 17 – On his return from a trip to Brazil to see how preparations are going for the 2014 World Cup, the FIFA general secretary, Jerome Valcke, has said that he is “finally confident” that Brazil will pass a World Cup law that has been the subject of political wrangling.
A law was submitted to the Brazilian Congress in August but it did not comply with the original agreement signed by the ex-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva four years ago when the country was awarded the 2014 World Cup, as well as the 2013 Confederations Cup.
Among other things it sought to ensure concession prices for pensioners, which FIFA has now agreed to after Valcke met with the Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff, to resolve the stand-off.
Since the dispute began, the Brazilian sports minister, Orlando Silva, was ousted from his post over corruption allegations and has been replaced by Aldo Rebelo.
During his trip this week Valcke spoke to congressmen and women to discuss the law and, in an interview published on FIFA’s website, he spoke of his new found optimism that the legislation could finally be passed.
He also pounced on comments made by the Brazilian legend Pele, who said this week that FIFA was not to blame for the impasse as the country had agreed to implement the legislation when it won the right to host the World Cup.
“Having just come back from a very productive trip to Brazil I am finally confident that we are on the right track and can soon close the chapter of this famous ‘2014 bill’,” said Valcke.
“The general requirements asked by FIFA prior to Brazil’s appointment as hosts are the same as for the previous FIFA World Cups.
“We are not asking any more than we did from Germany or South Africa, nor what we will be asking of Russia and Qatar.
“The requirements are also not more than what the Brazilian government agreed to fulfil when they were awarded the event back in 2007 – a point spelled out by no less a figure than Brazil’s World Cup ambassador and football icon Pele.”
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