New posts for LOC and FIFA executives

The latest meeting of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Organising Committee (LOC) was held in Sao Paulo on Wednesday, and was attended by representatives of FIFA and the Brazilian government. The most important developments to emerge from the meeting were the appointments of Ricardo Trade as the LOC’s new Chief Executive Officer and Ron Del Mont as the new head of FIFA’s office in Brazil. Trade, who will also stay on provisionally as the LOC’s Operations Director, will be answerable to LOC President Jose Maria Marin, along with the organisation’s other executives and employees. The holder of an MBA and a degree in Physical Education, the new CEO has extensive experience in the organisation of major sporting events, having been involved in the 2007 Pan-American Games and Rio de Janeiro’s successful bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games. For his part, Del Mont was involved in the organisation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, heading up FIFA’s office in the country. “With all his experience, I believe Ron Del Mont will make a decisive contribution to the organisation of the competition in 2014,” said FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke. Communication has been fluid between all parties and that has made it easier to take decisions with regard to the staging of the two competitions. Brazilian Minister of Sport Aldo Rebelo The meeting also focused extensively on the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013, for which final preparations are now being made in a number of areas. LOC head Marin said: “After undertaking some tireless and praiseworthy work in confirming the six host cities, we now face the challenge of staging the competition as well as we possibly can. The tournament is approaching fast, which means we must now concentrate on operational aspects and fine-tune our preparations in a number of different areas in the coming months.” Aside from providing an update on the ongoing construction work, the stadium operations team took the opportunity to summarise all the steps being taken in preparing for the matches to be played at the FIFA Confederations Cup. The meeting also heard updates on legal matters and other areas such as marketing, telecommunications and IT. The meeting was the last of a year in which the objective of providing LOC, FIFA and Brazilian government representatives with six-weekly updates on the progress of the various projects has been met. “Communication has been fluid between all parties and that has made it easier to take decisions with regard to the staging of the two competitions,” said Brazilian Minister of Sport Aldo Rebelo. The next LOC Management Board meeting will be held in Rio de Janeiro on 31 January 2013. /