koclokindoblog, 29 maret 2012,
Preparations for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil took a further step forward on Wednesday.
Government officials passed a bill that provides the legal framework for the tournament and lifts the nationwide ban on sales of alcohol in football stadiums.
However, the so-called World Cup bill, which also includes the allocation of discounted tickets to students, pensioners and indigenous people and creates regulations for the sale of FIFA, still needs to be debated in the Senate.
The vote in favour of the bill has been long-delayed in Congress, with lawmakers arguing it gives FIFA too much power.
It forced President Dilma Rousseff to bow to pressure on a number of controversial issues in hope of easing tensions in congress with a little over two years until kick off in Sao Paulo.
Passing of the bill, which also covers the curtain-raising 2013 Confederations Cup, may go some way to help manage strained ties between the Brazilian government and FIFA whose secretary-general Jerome Valcke reportedly said tournament organisers needed "a kick up the backside".
Valcke apologised soon after and both sides have since improved relations, but FIFA executives remain alarmed that the lack of urgency in Brazil over transport and key infrastructure will prove disruptive for thousands of fans.
The sale of all alcoholic beverages was banned in Brazilian football stadiums in 2003 in an effort to curb fan violence, however FIFA is determined to serve beer at the 2014 World Cup and honour its sponsorship agreements with Budweiser Anheuser-Busch.
The 2014 World Cup will return to South America for the first time since Argentina hosted the tournament in 1978 and to Brazil for the first time since 1950.
soccerway.com
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