Brazil president Dilma Rousseff announced Wednesday the government will temporarily shelve a law banning the consumption and sale of beer in stadiums for the duration of the 2014 World Cup.
Britain’s men’s hockey team will play their opening match of the London Olympics against Argentina at 1900 BST on 30 July, one of whose players caused a controversy this month with a video filmed in the disputed Falklands/Malvinas islands.
The Olympic flame landed in the UK ready for the London 2012 torch relay after being flown from Athens, Greece. David Beckham used it to light a cauldron after the plane, also carrying Princess Anne and London Games organizers chair Lord Coe, arrived at a Cornish air base.
The flame that will burn during the London Games was lit on Thursday at the birthplace of the ancient Olympics on Thursday, heralding the start of a torch relay that will culminate with the opening ceremony on July 27.
The Brazilian senate approved a bill Wednesday giving FIFA the guarantees needed to organize the 2014 World Cup. The approval came just a day after the Brazilian government met with FIFA officials in Switzerland to discuss the country's preparations and resolve their differences.
The Argentine hockey player filmed training on the Falkland Islands in a controversial video that caused a furor in Britain last week has been dropped from Argentina’s final Olympic Games warm-up event.
The Argentine Olympic Committee has responded for the first time to an advertisement on state-run TV that links a dispute with Britain about the Falklands/Malvinas Islands to the London Games.
The controversial Malvinas/Olympics advert promoted by the Argentine government ahead of the London Games not only has had negative reactions worldwide but has also triggered deep concern among members of the Argentine Olympic team.
Argentine state-run television aired the controversial advert on Sunday linking the London Olympics to a dispute with Britain over the Falkland Islands, opening itself to further criticism from the International Olympic Committee.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has expressed concern about the slow pace of preparations for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and said he wanted the delays to be made up as soon as possible.