FIFA president Sepp Blatter has apologised for remarks made by secretary-general Jerome Valcke about Brazil’s preparations for the 2014 World Cup, the country’s government says.

Blatter apologised in a letter to the government on Monday, a day after Valcke sent his own apology.

The government officially informed FIFA that it would no longer deal with Valcke after he said: “You have to push yourself, kick your (backside)” to speed up the country’s preparations.

It remained unclear whether the government would accept the apologies and change its position regarding Valcke.

The government says Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo would first answer the letters from FIFA officials before making his decision public.

Without directly mentioning Valcke’s remarks in his letter released by the sports ministry, in Portuguese, Blatter expressed his “deepest regret” about the situation.

“I’m extremely worried about the deterioration of the relationship between FIFA and the Brazilian government,” he said. “My only comment regarding this subject is to apologise to everyone who may have had their honour and their pride hurt, especially the Brazilian government and President Dilma Rousseff.”

He said that Brazil deserves to host the World Cup, but warned that “time is passing by” since the country was picked to host football’s showcase event in 2007.

“We shouldn’t let conflicts make us lose time,” he said. “Instead, let’s work together to build something bigger, as promised by (former) President (Luiz Inacio) Lula (da Silva) during his term.”

Blatter, who is in Bangladesh to discuss football with national federation officials, said he hopes to be able to meet with Rousseff next week in Brazil.

Blatter’s apology came as politicians gathered in Brasilia to vote on a key World Cup bill, which would give FIFA the necessary legal and financial guarantees to organise the event.

Delays by the Brazilian Congress to approve the bill was one of the reasons that caused Valcke to complain about the delays in the country’s preparations.

Among the issues under consideration by politicians is the sale of alcoholic beverages inside stadiums, something that currently is against the law in Brazil but which FIFA supports because Budweiser is a major World Cup sponsor.

When Brazil was picked to host the World Cup, the nation accepted FIFA’s demands to make changes to its laws to facilitate the tournament’s organisation. But the proposed bill has been contentious, with critics saying Brazilians shouldn’t bow to FIFA’s demands.