Rio De Janeiro - Arabstoday
One day after Ronaldo defended FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke\'s criticisms against Brazil regarding the country\'s preparation for the 2014 World Cup, Brazil\'s Minister of Sports Aldo Rebelo officially accepted the entity\'s apologies for the incident. Rebelo took offense to Valcke\'s statement that Brazil\'s organizers deserved a kick on the backside due to their lack of seriousness in preparing for the World Cup. Rebelo even prepared an official document appealing for FIFA to distance Valcke from future negotiations. FIFA president Joseph Blatter sent a letter to the Brazilian government in which he expressed his apology for any hard feelings caused by Valcke\'s words. Rebelo took nearly five days to respond to the letter, but admitted his acceptance of the apology. Blatter also sent a letter to Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, requesting that a face-to-face meeting be arranged in order to work out important details of the 2014 World Cup. Blatter hopes that a personal meeting will facilitate negotiations and restore the goodwill of both parties. Meanwhile, Rebelo stated that he will send a letter to FIFA in the immediate future to declare whether or not he will accept to continue to work with Valcke during negotiations and future inspections. Due to the uncomfortable situation, Blatter declared that Valcke\'s scheduled visit to Brazil next week will be postponed, indefinitely.