You have to admire the cojones of FIFA’s top brass, eh? Such as Jerome Valcke, who says it’s non-negotiable that a Brazilian law against selling beer in sports arenas will be scrapped.
You’ll have a beer, ya will, ya will. You definitely will. That’s the message being sent to the 2014 World Cup organisers by FIFA after the dictators of world football got wind of the fact that alcohol is actually banned from sports grounds in Brazil.
The ban is in place at all Brazilian sports stadiums but FIFA, as they’ve been known to do, are leaning on the powers-that-be to rip up their laws for the duration of the World Cup at least.
And when we say “leaning”, we mean putting the gun to their goolies and telling them that one false move now and Little Johnny gets it.
In a sensational show of arrogance – in which he warned us he was probably about to sound arrogant before pushing the boundaries of all known arrogance – FIFA’s General Secretary Valcke said that Brazil will change its laws. Because FIFA says so.
“Alcoholic drinks are part of the Fifa World Cup, so we’re going to have them,” said Valcke. “Excuse me if I sound a bit arrogant but that’s something we won’t negotiate.”
The Brazilian health minister, Alexandre Padilha, is urging the Government to stand its ground.
But it won’t, of course. Because when it comes to FIFA, nobody ever does.
