Brazil’s local organising committee (LOC) for the 2014 FIFA World Cup has pledged that stadium development will be completed six months ahead of the tournament, but has admitted that Recife’s Pernambuco Arena is a concern for next year’s Confederations Cup.
The long-running process to formalise the law regulating Brazil’s staging of the 2014 FIFA World Cup moved a major step closer on Thursday after it was passed onto the Senate, the upper house of Brazilian government.
English Premier League chairman Dave Richards warned the organisers of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar “not to stick their heads in the sand” over issues surrounding alcohol.
Jose Maria Marin has been installed as the new president of the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) and the 2014 FIFA World Cup organising committee after under-fire Ricardo Teixeira stepped down from the roles on Monday.
German Football Association (DFB) president Theo Zwanziger has renewed his attack on the award of the 2022 FIFA World Cup to Qatar by claiming the hosting criteria had been “perverted”.
Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee general secretary Hassan al-Thawadi has stated organisers remain open to staging a winter World Cup, but added that efforts are focused on the 2022 tournament taking place in its traditional summer slot.
Pele has admitted the delays Brazil is facing in its preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup are “scary”, but has stated his confidence that the country will deliver.
FIFA has followed up its bumper US broadcast deal by announcing further agreements in Australia, Canada and the Caribbean to bring the total rights fees raised for coverage of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to US$1.85 billion so far.
Brazilian Sports Minister Orlando Silva resigned on Wednesday after becoming embroiled in allegations of corruption in the host country of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the owner of beer brand Budweiser, has become the first member of FIFA’s portfolio of World Cup sponsors to commit to supporting the 2018 and 2022 tournaments in Russia and Qatar, respectively.
