Brazil, FIFA presidents to discuss 2014 World Cup

By Associated Press

SAO PAULO (AP) — FIFA head Sepp Blatter will meet Brazil’s president on Friday to settle differences over preparations for the 2014 World Cup.

Blatter will meet Dilma Rousseff in the capital Brasilia two weeks after FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke made harsh remarks over Brazil’s slow preparations, igniting a furor that impaired the relationship between the host country and soccer’s governing body.

Pele will join the talks, along with Brazil Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo.

Blatter asked for the meeting with Rousseff during his apology to Brazil, hoping the talk will help both sides focus on getting the country ready for the Confederations Cup next year and the World Cup in two years.

“We will discuss the status of preparations and what needs to be done over the next few months to achieve the common goal of FIFA and the Brazilian government,” Blatter said in a statement.

After Valcke’s remarks, Rebelo said Brazil was going to cut ties with the FIFA official in charge of working with the government in the World Cup preparations.

Rebelo later accepted apologies from Valcke, but the secretary general’s visit to inspect host cities in Brazil last week was canceled. It was unclear if Valcke would remain FIFA’s representative to work with the government. Rebelo said FIFA could make that choice.

FIFA said a decision on a new visit by Valcke would not be made until after Blatter met with Rousseff.

Also on the agenda Friday will likely be a controversial World Cup bill that is under consideration by Congress’ lower house.

The sticking point on the bill is the sale of alcohol inside stadiums, which is against the law in Brazil but is a demand by FIFA because Budweiser is a major World Cup sponsor. The bill was approved by a congressional commission last week, but the vote on the proposed law at the lower house was delayed Wednesday because congressmen remained divided on the alcohol text.

In addition to authorizing the sale of alcohol inside stadiums, the bill is important because it gives FIFA the necessary legal and financial guarantees to organize soccer’s showcase event.

Critics are against the proposed law because they say Brazil shouldn’t bow to FIFA’s demands. FIFA said the country agreed to change its legislation when it was picked as World Cup host in 2007.

Another talking point may be the resignation of Ricardo Teixeira, who was also the president of the local World Cup organizing committee.

Teixeira had been head of the Brazilian federation for 23 years, a period marked by success on and off the field but also by allegations of irregularities and corruption locally and abroad. Teixeira remains a member of FIFA’s executive committee.

Brazil admits there are delays in the World Cup preparations, especially in infrastructure work and in some stadium constructions, but officials guarantee that the country will be ready in time to host the competitions.

Despite apologizing for Valcke’s remarks, Blatter said “time is passing by” and both parties need to keep working hard to make sure Brazil is ready.

This week, a group of about 40 people from FIFA and the local organizing committee ended a seven-day trip to six of the 12 World Cup host cities. The inspection group checked local plans for traffic, security, fan management, commercial partners, marketing, hospitality and media.

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Rio official: Increased security will be significant legacy of 2014 World Cup, 2016 Olympics

By Associate Press

DOHA, Qatar — A top Rio de Janeiro security official says the legacy of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics will be the peace and improved services that added security is bringing to the city’s long-deprived poor neighborhoods.

Jose Mariano Beltrame, secretary for public security in Rio, told a sports and security conference in Qatar that Rio’s three-year program has broken down barriers to slums that for decades were essentially cut off from prosperous parts of the city of 6 million people.

“We are changing the city, recovering the areas and also installing police into those areas,” Beltrame said. “Most importantly, it is not only the police presence. The police are doing the first intervention there. The police are creating possibility to include these people into normal life.”
In 2009, city officials launched a “pacification” program, in which security forces clear heavily armed gangs from slums and establish a police presence. The program in about 15 percent of the slums serving 280,000 people so far aims to reduce violence in Rio before the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games, and improve the lives of shanty town residents by bringing in basic services.
Beltrame said the project is already showing “quantitative results” including a drop in crime rates in the city. He said that funding for the program extends through 2014 and he was confident the gains would hold and result in a “permanent legacy.”
“If we don’t have this, we will have less public security,” Beltrame said. “The legacy we are creating has to start now.”
Drug factions began taking over slums in the 1980s, when the cocaine trade heated up. Lucrative drug sales led to the introduction of military-grade weapons, fueling deadly confrontations between the gangs and with the police.
The Rio state government over the years either ignored the slum violence or responded only when the killings spilled into Rio’s rich neighborhoods. The pacification program has been widely supported but raised questions over why it took so long for authorities to act. There are also questions over whether the program can actually reduce the drug trade.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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FIFA team concludes visit to 2014 World Cup host cities in Brazil

By Associated Press,

SAO PAULO — FIFA has completed a visit to six of the 12 host cities of the 2014 World Cup.
A group of about 40 people from FIFA and the local organizing committee traveled to the northeastern city of Natal on Monday, the last stop in a seven-day trip across Brazil.

They also visited Sao Paulo, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Cuiaba and the jungle city of Manaus. The other six host cities had been inspected last year.
The inspection group scrutinized local plans for dealing with traffic, security, fan management, commercial partners, marketing, hospitality and media.
Ricardo Trade, an executive director at the local organizing committee, says the visits are important to help organizers “evaluate several aspects” and improve planning for the World Cup.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Teixeira quits as head of Brazil CBF, 2014 World Cup

(Reuters) - Ricardo Teixeira, the controversial soccer boss who has headed the Brazilian Football Confederation for 22 years, quit on Monday following a string of corruption scandals.

Teixeira also resigned his role as the head of the local organising committee for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

He tendered his resignation in a letter that was read out to reporters at the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).

"I leave the presidency of the CBF definitively with the feeling of having done my duty," Teixeira said in the letter.

Teixeira, 64, said he was standing down for health reasons, just days after he requested a temporary medical leave of absence to treat diverticulitis, a painful bowel condition.

He is succeeded by Jose Maria Marin, 79, a former politician who is little known outside the closed world of the CBF.

Teixeira has run the CBF since 1989 and turned it into a vastly profitable commercial enterprise.

Brazil had not won the World Cup for 19 years when he took over but have since lifted it twice, in 1994 and 2002.

However, despite the successes on and off the field, Teixeira's tenure has frequently been overshadowed by allegations of corruption and shady business dealings.

In 2001, a Congressional investigation accused him of 13 crimes ranging from tax evasion to money laundering to misleading lawmakers, although no charges were ever brought.

Last year, the former head of the English Football Association David Triesman said Teixeira offered to back England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup in return for favours.

In February, the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper said a company linked to Teixeira overcharged the organisers of a November 2008 friendly match between Brazil and Portugal.

Teixeira has denied wrongdoing in all cases.

Teixeira's resignation means that Marin and two former footballers, Ronaldo and Bebeto, are now charged with organising one of sport's biggest events.

Ronaldo and Bebeto, both World Cup winners, were appointed to the committee in recent months despite having little experience in the field.

The tournament has been beset by delays and questions ever since Brazil won the right to host it in October 2007. Although most of the 12 stadiums are on schedule, several are over budget and being built with taxpayer money.

More worrying is the state of transportation infrastructure, especially airports.

Brazil's antiquated airports are not capable of handling the expected influx of 600,000 fans and authorities have been slow to build new airports and expand the existing ones. (Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier and Andrew Downie; Editing by Todd Benson and Martyn Herman)

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