A hundred days before the World Cup, Blatter says problems are under control

In an interview that marked the beginning of the 100-day countdown to the World Cup, held on Tuesday (Mar. 4), FIFA President Joseph Blatter said that difficulties are under control and that this period could be considered a short one if there were still problems, but, in his view, this is not the case of Brazil. “It will be, in a hundred days, an exceptionally good start for an exceptional competition,” he said in a video published on FIFA’s website.

Blatter hopes Brazilians will give the championship a warm welcome and that there is fair play throughout the event. “Brazilian fans will their team from the very beginning. And they hope that Brazil will make it to the end. But there are 31 teams. They want to [prevent] Brazil [from] being in the final, and that’s why it will be a very high-leveled competition, and really it will be a competition with a combat spirit, and with the spirit of fair play where football will also give a message of fair play, and a message of discipline and respect.”

He emphasized Brazilians’ ion for soccer: “I have to say that the country where football, the skill of football, has been inaugurated is Brazil,” and added, “The Brazilian spirit of the game and the Brazilian ability to play football makes this World Cup very, very special.”

Blatter also mentioned Brazil’s historical defeat at the Maracanã stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, 64 years ago, and stressed that “today every Brazilian hopes their team will be the champion at home.”

On her Twitter , President Dilma Rousseff also made a remark about the beginning of the countdown: “We’re a hundred days away from the World Cup and the country has almost finished all the preparations for this great party,” she wrote. She added that the host cities will be lit up in green and yellow as a way of bringing to people’s minds the moment the whole world is waiting for: “Brazilians are ready to show that they know how to welcome tourists and contribute to making this the Cup of Cups.” And Rousseff added, “This is the World Cup for Peace and the World Cup against Racism.”

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira