South America

The game between Brazil and England to celebrate the reopening of the Maracana Stadium on June 2 next year, announced by Rio de Janeiro Governor Sergio Cabral on Friday, does not yet have FIFA authorisation according to Jérôme Valcke, Secretary General of world football’s governing body.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has announced that Guiyang and Cali will host the World Cross Country Championships and World Youth Championships in 2015.

FIFA has signed up its penultimate national supporter for the 2014 World Cup and 2013 Confederations Cup after announcing a deal with Brazilian trade and investment agency Apex-Brasil.

Rio 2016 has restructured its senior management for the delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic Games with Sidney Levy succeeding CEO Leonardo Gryner, who will now become chief operations officer of the organisation.

Brazilian authorities have revised the estimated cost of public spending on stadiums, airports and other infrastructure for the 2014 FIFA World Cup by more than US$1.7 billion.

FIFA has retained its original list of six host cities for Brazil’s 2013 Confederations Cup after world football’s governing body relaxed its deadline for delivery of the venues.

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke has maintained that this week’s naming of the host cities for the 2013 Confederations Cup is a “crucial moment” in the cycle of Brazil’s preparations for the tournament, along with the 2014 World Cup itself.

Rio 2016 CEO Leonardo Gryner will deliver the latest insight into the planning and delivery of the next Summer Olympic Games in a live video presentation from Brazil during the forthcoming International Sports Event Management (ISEM) Conference.

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke has expressed his doubts that Brazil’s six stadia for the 2013 Confederations Cup will be ready on time due to the slow pace of preparations.

Soccerex has announced that world-renowned football agent Pini Zahavi will be joining Omar Ongaro, FIFA’s head of player status, Daniel Lorenz, FC Porto’s director of legal affairs, Marcos Motta, partner of Bichara e Motta Advogados and Daniel Cravo from Daniel Cravo Souza Advogados Associados to discuss player ownership and transfers at the Soccerex Global Convention next month.

Carlos Arthur Nuzman, one of the key figures leading the project to bring the 2016 Olympic Games to Rio de Janeiro, has secured a fifth consecutive term as president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee.

The professional football athletes' union in Brazil, the National Federation of Professional Football Athletes, has pledged to fight the plan to schedule 2014 FIFA World Cup games during the afternoon in tropical cities in the country.

Rio de Janeiro’s organising committee for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games has fired 10 employees for stealing files from its counterpart LOCOG during the London 2012 Games.

Adidas has extended one of its longest-running kit partnerships by renewing its deal with Argentine giant River Plate through to December 2018.

London’s staging of the Olympic and Paralympic Games has raised the bar for Rio 2016 but has also served to increase the commercial appeal of the events, according to Brazil’s Deputy Sports Minister Luis Fernandes.

Soccerex has announced that key officials from Brazil’s local organising committee (LOC) for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Ricardo Trade and Bebeto, will speak at the Soccerex Global Convention in Rio de Janeiro from November 24-28.