BRASILIA: President Dilma Rousseff, having welcoming Sepp Blatter and the World Cup trophy to Brazil, is turning TV saleswoman to ‘sell’ the finals to the nation.

Rousseff met FIFA president Blatter and secretary-general Jerome in Brasilia yesterday along with the trophy which had been toured around 88 countries and each of the 12 Brazilian host cities.

On the same day, the International Broadcast Centre for the FIFA World Cup was opened formally in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro.  The centre will serve as a competition venue for the 2016 Olympic Games, hosting badminton, boxing, table tennis and weightlifting competitions.

Rousseff will start her round of television channels with Bandeirantes then go on to Record and SBT. Globo, which holds World Cup broadcasting rights, will follow next week.

The government wants to press a message of peace on Brazilians, especially because of fears of a resurgence of demonstrations during the finals which start on Thursday next week with Brazil’s game against Croatia in Sao Paulo.

Rousseff is expected to defend the hosting of the World Cup, the work undertaken to improve infrastructure and insist how the costs of stadia and associated works had created a social legacy for the entire country.

She launched her media campaign last month by hosting a dinner for sports editors of newspapers, magazines and TV channels.

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