Stung by criticism, Brazil to shun FIFA's Valcke

Brazil Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo said Saturday his country would no longer recognise FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke as a spokesman after he slammed the country's faltering organisation of the 2014 World Cup.

"The government will no longer accept the secretary general as FIFA spokesman," Rebelo told a press conference a day after Valcke went so far as to suggest the organisers needed a "kick up the backside."