April 25 – Sepp Blatter is downplaying security concerns at the World Cup despite more street protests in Rio de Janeiro and, earlier this month, a surge in violent crime in Salvador.
The FIFA president is likening the warning signs and public scepticism to the anxious mood before South Africa four years ago and is optimistic the tournament will pass off peacefully.
“Security is the matter of the government and the state. FIFA cannot ensure security,” said Blatter during a visit to Hong Kong. “This is part of the commitment of the organising government, in this case the government of Brazil when they have received the World Cup.
“The same time, just four years ago, people were saying that nobody shall go to South Africa, that we should go with bullet-proof jackets because there’s no security.”
Blatter’s number two, FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke, has warned there is “not a minute to waste” as some World Cup venues remain unfinished. But Blatter, despite criticising Brazil in January for being way underprepared, said the authorities simply had to be ready.
“It is my 10th World Cup, and I can tell you I have never seen a World Cup that everything is ready, completely ready before the kick-off.”
While Blatter was attending the Hong Kong Football Association’s ceremony to mark their 100th anniversary, protesters shouted slogans against alleged labour exploitation in the manufacture of World Cup-related products in developing countries and also to highlight the plight of migrant workers building stadiums in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup.
Blatter distanced himself from the issue and said it was a matter which only the local authorities could handle. ”They have a problem and we know that but this is not a question for FIFA. It is one which the state of Qatar must handle as well as all the construction companies who are responsible for the workers.”
Asked if he would run for a fifth term of office next year, Blatter typically refused to give anything away, saying, “you’ll know more about that” after the FIFA Congress in Sao Paolo on June 11, when he is due to make public his decision.
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