The final text of the bill was expected to be approved on Tuesday, but some commission members have asked for additional time to study its implications. The Associated Press reports that this latest delay is set to mean a vote won’t happen before the country’s Carnival celebrations swing into action. The bill is therefore unlikely to reach the lower chamber and the Senate by the end of March, as expected by FIFA.
President Dilma Rousseff will still have to approve the law after it is approved by both chambers and Commission President Renan Filho has stated some issues still need to be resolved before a vote can take place. “I won’t set another date until this negotiation is completed,” he told the private Agencia Estado news service. The latest news comes after FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke last month stated that all parties were close to agreeing the controversial law.
The issue of the ‘2014 World Cup Law’ has been one of the major sticking points in Brazil’s preparations for the tournament. The new law would 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. There have been wide concerns that world football’s governing body should not be allowed to overstep Brazilian law.
Brazil 2014’s local organising committee board meeting in January also saw Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo state his optimism that the law would be signed off in March. He had said: “It is such an important party for this country; it is most likely the most important event on the planet. We need to find adequate solutions and there is lots of co-operation and effort to find them from all parties.”
