RIO DE JANEIRO: Countries hoping to stage the World Cup finals should first obtain parliamentary approval in light of the difficulties FIFA has experienced with Brazil’s authorities, general secretary Jerome Valcke said yesterday.
Valcke told reporters he was expressing a personal opinion which had not yet been discussed with the president of the world governing body Sepp Blatter.
But he said it was a lesson he has learned during the complicated organisation of the 2014 tournament in Brazil during which FIFA has often found itself in opposition to the Brazilian government.
The Brazilian government and FIFA were at loggerheads over several issues such as the sale of beer at stadiums, which is banned in Brazil but was a commitment the country conceded to FIFA whose sponsors include a major brewery.
FIFA was also targeted in mass anti-government protests across the country’s major cities during the Confederations Cup in June over the huge costs of staging next year’s tournament.
“Before Brazil’s proposal (to stage the finals) was sent to FIFA, they could have voted (on it) in congress and that might be done in the future,” Valcke told reporters.
“It would be national support rather than just a bid sent by a federation with government guarantees.
“You would have at least the official approval from a majority of the political parties which are the representatives of the country’s population.”
Valcke added that if such a method was introduced it would only come into effect for the 2026 tournament since Russia has already been awarded the 2018 finals and Qatar those in 2022.
Brazil, through the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), was chosen to organise the 2014 finals in 2007 when it was South America’s sole candidate at a time when the tournament was rotated around FIFA’s continental confederations, a system that has ended. Valcke said he did not believe there was a lack of popular support for the tournament. He said record numbers of fans attending Confederations Cup matches was evidence of such support. REUTERS
