Brazilian govt step in to avoid WCup collapse

SAO PAULO – The appointment of an ally of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff to the organising committee of the 2014 World Cup was widely seen by sports experts in the South American country on Wednesday as a last ditch effort to avoid the tournament collapsing.World governing body FIFA announced Tuesday in Zurich that the Brazilian government would have a representative on the Local Organising Committee (LOC), which had until now been headed by Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Jose Maria Marin and ex-football stars Ronaldo and Bebeto.The executive-secretary of the Ministry of Sport, Luis Fernandes, has been appointed as an LOC representative, which will start meeting every six to eight weeks to discuss preparation.Despite pouring millions of dollars into the construction and modernisation of stadiums, airports, roads and public transport for the World Cup, work is seriously behind schedule.FIFA fear that some stadiums - including the mythical Maracana in Rio where the final will be played - will not be ready to host the Conferedations Cup in June 2013, considered as a test run for the World Cup.The decision that FIFA and Rousseff’s government would take over the organisation was taken “because it was perceived that it didn’t make sense that those who paid the bills were not represented in the LOC,” sports commentator Juca Kfouri from the daily O Estado de Sao Paulo told AFP.

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Brazilian govt step in to avoid WCup collapse