After Aldo, the Senate closes its doors to Valcke.
The Minister of Sport, Aldo Rebelo, was the first authority to announce that he would not meet with the controversial FIFA secretary; now it was the Senate's turn, which did not accept the Frenchman in place of the leader Joseph Blatter for a hearing on the 11th.
247 – The presence of FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke is not welcome in the Senate. The Frenchman, who recently caused controversy among Brazilian authorities, was not accepted in place of the organization's president, Joseph Blatter, to participate in a hearing at the House's Education and Sports Committee on April 11th. His presence was confirmed this Monday to speak about the organization of the 2014 World Cup and the General Law of the Cup. The news was published on the journalist's blog. Ricardo Perrone, from UOL.
Valcke was already disliked by the Brazilian government as FIFA's liaison for the 2014 World Cup, but Blatter not only kept him in the position but also confirmed his return to the country. The last time he was in Brazil, the Secretary-General caused controversy by saying that the organizers needed a "kick in the pants" to speed up the World Cup construction. This statement, which even displeased President Dilma Rousseff, led the Minister of Sport, Aldo Rebelo, to ask FIFA to remove him as the liaison and prevent him from returning to Brazil.
The Senate Committee will now send a new invitation to Joseph Blatter, reiterating that it is a non-transferable invitation. This second time he received the invitation, the official said he would send the Frenchman in his place. According to Perrone, Valcke's visit was interpreted by the Brazilian government as a strategic error by the organization, as it would further damage the secretary's image and inflame tensions.