Speaking on Thursday as Brazil 2014 staged a local organising committee (LOC) board meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Valcke outlined his expectations for the 2010-14 financial cycle. “The 2014 World Cup should bring in $3.5 billion, while expenditure should reach $2.3 billion in the same period,” he said, according to AFP. “FIFA will thus achieve a positive result of $1.2 billion.”
By contrast, FIFA made a profit of $631 million over the four years leading up to South Africa’s World Cup, with 87% of its $4.19 billion turnover generated by the tournament itself. FIFA’s financial report for the period confirmed that expenditure over the four years was $3.56 billion, $105 million over budget due to additional investments in football development and a $31 million overspend on the 2010 World Cup.
In other news, Brazil’s Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo is optimistic the controversial 2014 World Cup Law will be signed off in March. The new law will regulate commercial rights, alcohol sales and advertising rules for the tournament and rubber-stamp the final commitments Brazil’s federal government made to FIFA in its bid to host the World Cup and the 2013 Confederations Cup. Concerns have been expressed that FIFA should not be allowed to overstep Brazilian law, but Rebelo is confident all parties are close to an agreement although the issue of ticketing remains a challenge.
“In regards to the 2014 Bill, we are very optimistic that we will accomplish this mission in March,” he said. “We had the presence of Vicente Candido and Renan Filho, the Presidential Special Commission, to discuss the last final points of the bill text. My optimism is based on the commitment of the special commission for the FIFA World Cup and the House of Representatives that they will vote on the bill in the beginning of March. The access (to tickets) is limited due to the capacities in the stadiums and as such it is important to ensure that all Brazilians will have a fair chance of access. We need to find adequate solutions and there is a lot of effort to find them from all parties.”
Meanwhile, Valcke moved to “point out again that there have never been and there are no tensions between the government and FIFA.” FIFA’s secretary general added that Natal’s stadium is the only venue that is currently causing concern, but it will retain its place as one of the 12 World Cup venues. “We simply have to keep monitoring it more closely and the city needs to speed up as they are very late,” said Valcke. Rebelo this week stated that concerns over development of the Beira-Rio stadium in Porto Alegre have been addressed, with construction set to resume on January 25.
