RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – Ex-Brazil striker Ronaldo has taken a top role in organising the 2014 World Cup in his country and is looking to iron out disagreements between the government, FIFA and the local organising committee (LOC).
Ronaldo, 35, who helped Brazil win their fifth World Cup in 2002, joined the LOC’s three-man decision-making board as he followed in the footsteps of Michel Platini and Franz Beckenbauer.
Platini and Beckenbauer were head of the local organising committees when France and Germany hosted the 1998 and 2006 editions respectively.
Ronaldo took up the challenge at the request of embattled Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and LOC president Ricardo Teixeira who has led soccer in his country since 1989 and is also a member of FIFA’s ruling executive committee.