FIFA & Brazil Settle Differences

FIFA and Brazil differences are behind them after an emergency summit aimed at bringing all the parties together met for almost six hours at FIFA headquarters yesterday and finally cleared the way for badly needed better cooperation.

After months of squabbling, an emergency summit aimed at bringing all the parties together met for almost six hours at FIFA headquarters yesterday and finally cleared the way for badly needed better cooperation.

It was the first face-to-face meeting between Brazil Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo and FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke since the latter ignited a much-publicised feud earlier this year when he denounced Brazil for its slow pace of preparations.

From now on, a member of the Brazilian Government will be included in Brazil 2014 to make sure no important decisions are subsequently challenged by politicians.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter, said: “No more dissent, everything has been solved. This is a very important day for football, an important step for FIFA’s World Cup 2014. The World Cup is the pillar of FIFA. Without the possibilities of the Government and without guarantees it would be impossible to organise.”

Rebelo spoke of “hard work, discipline and dedication”, while José Maria Marin, the man who took over from Ricardo Teixeira as head of Brazil 2014 and of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), claimed there was now “total integration.”

“We will bring peace of mind to all those responsible,” Marin said.

“I am absolutely convinced that the stadiums will be ready, the infrastructures will be ready.”

Nevertheless, arguably the most eye-catching aspect of a post-summit media conference was that military airports are now being discussed to cope with the influx of fans and insufficient capacity.

“The option of military airports is being considered,” Rebelo disclosed though whether they are actually used “depends on the views of the Ministry of Defence”.

Valcke was asked why it had taken so long to bring the Brazilian Government onboard and into the decision-making process.

“In life sometimes you make the wrong decision instead of taking the right decision right away,” he replied not altogether convincingly, carefully speaking in his native French.

“But better late than never. We need to make sure that in the little time we have left we can find immediate answers to the questions we have.

“That was the main thing we agreed on today. We will be working together towards that goal.”

Brazilian icon Ronaldo, recently added to Brazil 2014, used footballing parlance to stress the importance of the summit.

“The most important decision for me today was to play as a unified team,” he said. “If a team doesn’t play together it’s very difficult to win.”