FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke clarified his comments made following the recent IFAB meeting in Surrey concerning the preparations for Brazil 2014 in a letter sent on Monday evening to the Brazilian Minister of Sports Aldo Rebelo.

In the letter he explains that he deeply regrets that a misinterpretation in the translation of his words have caused much concern. In French, “se donner un coup de pied aux fesses” just means “to pick up the pace” or, in Portuguese, "retomar o ritmo” and, unfortunately, this expression was translated into Portuguese using much stronger words. 

He also explained that there is certainly an air of concern at FIFA, and as the person who is ultimately responsible for delivery of the FIFA World Cup he simply wanted to stress the urgency of moving swiftly and decisively because the kick-off of the FIFA Confederations Cup is only 15 months and the Opening Match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ only 27 months away.

He underlined that there is no doubt that the 2014 FIFA World Cup will be held in Brazil and that he holds great respect and admiration for the country of the five times FIFA World Cup champions.