Fifa La Assaf: Idol winner first Arab to perform at Fifa Congress opening ceremony

Arab Idol winner Mohammad Assaf has been invited to sing at the opening ceremony of the 64th FIFA Congress in Brazil, scheduled for two days before the start of the World Cup.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter wrote in a letter to the Palestinian Football Association that Assaf had been invited to perform, days after the singer announced that he had been "banned" from singing at the World Cup's opening ceremony.

Assaf "is invited to perform at the official opening ceremony of the FIFA Congress in Sao Paulo next June," Blatter said in the letter. 

"I apologize for any misunderstanding but we ensure our commitment to Assaf's invitation to perform in Brazil," he added.

The opening ceremony the FIFA congress will be held on June 10, while the World Cup's opening ceremony is scheduled for June 12.

Assaf said at a news conference in Gaza on Friday that he had been been banned from performing at the World Cup.

"I was supposed to sing for the World Cup 2014, in the opening ceremony, but, I do not want to accuse anyone but some people, or states or parties, God knows who, intervened and FIFA canceled my song with Platinum Records," he said.

Assaf, the first Palestinian to win the popular Arab Idol TV singing contest, became the UN's first Palestinian goodwill ambassador in June 2013 following his victory.