Valcke Believes New Brazilian Sports Minister will Bring Back Order to World Cup Preparations

Jerome Valcke, FIFA’s secretary general believes the newly appointed Brazilian sports minister Aldo Rebello can put World Cup Preparations back on schedule after Orlando Silva’s resignation.

Valcke said: “We acknowledge the work done so far and regret this situation. We are confident that the Brazilian government will soon inform us about the new representative in charge so that we can continue to work together on the preparations of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. For us, it is always essential to have a dedicated link to the government of the FIFA World Cup host country.”

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff appointed Aldo Rebelo as the new sports minister late Thursday. He will oversee preparations for the 2014 World Cup and Rio 2016 Olympics.

Previous sports minister Siva resigned Wednesday amid allegations he took more than $20 million in public money intended for social programmes related to the 2014 finals.

“I decided to leave the government so that I can defend my honour,” he announced after an hour-long meeting with Rousseff.

The Brazilian Supreme Federal Court opened a case against him on Tuesday centred around the kickback allegations of a police officer, allegations Silva has already denied before a congressional panel.

Silva was the sixth of her ministers to leave office under a cloud of corruption since her inauguration in January.