Soccerex, a global convention that was due to held in Rio de Janeiro from Nov. 30 to Dec. 5, just before the final draw for next year's World Cup of football, has been cancelled for unclear reasons. After four years of preparation, it would have drawn some 4,500 decision-makers in the football sector from all over the world. Denying that it was due to the ongoing civil unrest in the country, which began with the advent of the Confederations Cup last June because a lot of public money is being spent on sports mega-events rather than on the poor, Rio's state government said it was due to a financial dispute with the London-based organizers of the event. Local authorities said they had encouraged them to find more sponsors to fund the event along with Eurosport, Sportcal and a few others still listed on Soccerex' website, but the organizers pointed out that Rio had not fulfilled its contractual obligations, adding that they were considering legal action for substantial compensation of their losses. The issue was compounded by the fact that the event was due to be staged in the Maracanã stadium, which has been refurbished for the World Cup final and transferred from public to private ownership. The new owners reportedly asked for 6 million reais (€1.92m-$2.57m) for use of the stadium. Meanwhile, Fifa said a few days ago that Brazilians bought 72 percent of the first tranche of 889,303 tickets for the World Cup. The next window will opened on Nov. 11, offering 228,959 tickets on a first-come, first-serve basis. The final round will start on Dec. 8.

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