Sao Paulo, June 10: The 64th FIFA Congress gets under way here Tuesday and football fans can watch the opening ceremony live on FIFA.com, according to the official website of the International Football Federation.

As in previous years, a number of world-famous artists will be performing at the ceremony, such as Palestinian artist Mohammed Assaf, Brazilian pianist Nelson Ayres and also Brazilian musical legend Maria Rita while the Mistress of Ceremonies is Fernanda Lima, reports Xinhua.

FIFA president Joseph Blatter will have the honour of opening the Congress, which will also be attended by Brazil's Minister of Sport Aldo Rebelo.

But Sao Paulo's local newspaper said Monday that Brazil President Dilma Rousseff will not attend formal opening of the FIFA Congress. The head of state traditionally addresses the meeting.

FIFA has criticised Brazil over the last few years for delays in building World Cup stadiums and related road and airport projects.

Coverage of the event starts at 17:00 local time and coverage of day two will begin at 9:30 a.m Wednesday when the debates and the closing press conference will be broadcast.

The congress is clouded by the corruption scandal over the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Five of FIFA's biggest sponsors, Hyundai, Coca Cola, Adidas, Sony and Visa, have all called for investigations of alleged wrongdoing in the 2022 bid process.

Blatter is expected to take the football summit as a platform to announce that he will seek a fifth four-year term in the Federation.

IANS