Brazil must hurry up and pass a package of new laws if the 2014 World Cup is to go ahead, FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke told the country’s Congress on Tuesday, adding there was “not a day to lose.”
“Either we do [the Cup] together or we will never manage it,” said Valcke, pointing out that Brazil had first been asked to pass the legislation in 2007 when it was awarded the right to host the tournament.
Brazil’s Congress must agree to implement a number of special rules in the so-called World Cup law, covering matters ranging from the price of tickets to penalties for selling pirate merchandise and the sale of alcohol in stadiums.
Photo: AFP
Some of these rules override local laws, which has stirred up nationalistic sentiment in a country intensely proud of its soccer tradition and its economic progress.
Some members of Congress have already dug in their heels, threatening to delay the bill’s approval and adding to concerns over Brazil’s lagging preparations for the global showpiece.
Former Brazil striker Romario, himself now a congressman, is one of the most outspoken critics, saying the law would trample on the country’s sovereignty.
Valcke said Brazil was aware of FIFA’s conditions when it signed up to host the tournament and said similar requirements were made of recent hosts, including Germany in 2006 and South Africa last year.
“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,” Valcke told a parliamentary commission scrutinizing the 40-page draft law before it is put to a plenary vote.
In one concession to Brazil’s concerns, Valcke said FIFA would offer a limited number of cut-price tickets for about US$25 each, after Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff told him that Brazil would not scrap half-price ticket rights for pensioners.
Those tickets would make up about 10 percent of the total.
However, he said FIFA would not back down on its demand that alcohol be sold in stadiums during the tournament and said there was no evidence that this had led to violent behavior at past World Cups. Some Brazilian states ban alcohol sales in stadiums.
The law would allow only FIFA sponsors’ beverages to be sold and prohibit advertising by sponsors’ competitors near stadiums.
Brazil, which is struggling to get stadiums and other vital infrastructure in place in time for the event, has already passed a law that exempts FIFA and its partners from taxes on revenue they will generate.
The World Cup law had been expected to be voted on this year, but Brazil’s sports ministry said on Tuesday it would not happen until next year after a decision to hold up to 20 more debates on it.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS