The Brazilian government is at loggerheads with the world football federation (FIFA) over the World Cup Brazil is hosting in 2014. On 11 October a special congressional commission began to examine the so-called Lei General da Copa, a bill sent down last month by President Dilma Rousseff to regulate the organisation of the World Cup. FIFA wants the law amended to reflect its commercial demands. Rousseff is having none of it. She has reportedly decided that Brazil will not bow down to “absurd” FIFA demands the way South Africa had to in 2010. One notable aspect of that tournament was that the vast majority of the enthusiastic locals that helped deliver such a successful tournament were unable to afford to attend the matches.
The bill asserts pre-existing Brazilian laws on ticketing, such as the stipulation that students and pensioners get a 50% discount on tickets. FIFA argues this would compromise its forecast revenues. The bill also contradicts FIFA’s demands on the sale of alcohol inside the stadiums, which is prohibited in Brazil. Moreover, under Brazilian law, states, and not the federal government, regulate alcohol sales, and so FIFA would have to negotiate individually with each host state. The tournament sponsor, Budweiser, expects exclusive rights to all the stadiums. TV rights are also an issue, with local Brazilian companies demanding some access to the games. Another FIFA demand is that Brazil alter its existing laws so as to levy harsher sentences on people caught selling fake merchandise. Under the current law, the maximum sentence is three months; FIFA wants that increased to a year.
Brazil could have been emboldened to challenge FIFA because of the severe image problems the organisation has acquired in recent months. Rousseff has the full support of the public. Local football stars like Pelé and Romario (now a socialist party deputy) have criticised FIFA “excesses”. “Our president needs …to put FIFA in its place,” Romario stated this week. He suggested that FIFA could easily bear the estimated US$100m cost of half price tickets for students and pensioners. “FIFA will come down here for a month and we all know the profit it will make. FIFA could earn a little bit less so that the Brazilians can take part,” he asserted. Others, including former president Lula da Silva, who oversaw Brazil’s winning World Cup and Olympic bids, have intimated that a sovereign state like Brazil should not be “subservient” to an “entity” like FIFA.
