By Andrew Warshaw
November 9 – FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke has warned Brazil once again that they are lagging behind schedule and that there is “not a day to lose” in organising the World Cup.
Amid mounting pressure, Valcke has returned to the 2014 hosts yet again to reiterate that the country must pull its socks up and pass a series of new laws.
“Either we do [the Cup] together or we will never manage it,” Valcke told a Brazilian Parliamentary Commission, pointing out that the country had first been asked to pass the relevant legislation in 2007 when it was awarded the right to host the tournament.
“We are late, we cannot afford to lose one more day.”
FIFA has constantly expressed concern over progress being made at the 12 World Cup venues and Valcke urged authorities to redouble their efforts to prevent a logistical nightmare.
“Travelling in Brazil is not easy,” he said.
“To drive in Sao Paulo, to go from one end to the other is a nightmare.
“To leave the airport takes half a day, this cannot happen [during the tournament].”
The so-called World Cup law, which clashes with local legislation, includes things like ticket prices and the sale of alcohol in stadiums.
The former Brazil striker, Romario, himself now a Congressman, is one of the most outspoken critics of FIFA and said they had no right to tell the country how to conduct its business.
But Valcke countered that Brazil was well aware of FIFA’s conditions when it signed up to host the tournament and that similar requirements were made of Germany in 2006 and South Africa in 2010.
“We haven’t changed a word of what was accepted and what was asked for by FIFA in 2007 so that Brazil would host this World Cup,” he said.
Valcke has already conceded that FIFA will offer a limited number of cut-price tickets to comply with Brazilian laws over pensioners’ rights. But he said they would not back down on its demand that alcohol be sold in stadiums during the tournament.
“We do not want to interfere with [Brazilian] legislation.
“We want to see which articles from these laws can be applied to the World Cup and which can’t.”
Sitting next to Valcke was Ricardo Teixeira, the controversial head of both the World Cup organising committee and the Brazilian Football Confederation, who is being investigated by Brazilian police over allegations of money laundering and fraud. Teixeira is understood to have said little or nothing during the three-hour hearing.
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