BEER will be sold at the 12 venues of the 2014 World Cup finals, FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke said Wednesday as he attempted to close all further discussion on a controversial issue in Brazil.

    Voting on the bill for the World Cup Law has been held up over differences between the tournament hosts and world soccer’s governing body, notably on the sale of alcoholic drinks at sports venues which is banned in Brazil.

    “Alcoholic drinks are part of the FIFA World Cup, that’s something we won’t negotiate,” Valcke said.

    Alcoholic drinks have been banned in Brazil’s stadiums since 2003 as part of the Supporters’ Statutes, aimed at preventing violence among hardcore fans at football matches.

    Another point of discord between the Brazilian Government and FIFA is half-price tickets for students and senior citizens which is the rule in Brazil.

    Valcke said this issue would be resolved by creating a special category of tickets worth US$25 each with 300,000 available for the group phase to several groups of people including students and the elderly.

    He said, however, there needed to be strict controls of the people who qualified for these tickets.

    “It’s unfair if a person who can afford a category one ticket buys a category four ticket. We must guarantee this won’t happen,” Valcke said. (SD-Agencies)