Jordaan to head SA 2010 body
14 January 2005
It didn't take long for Fifa president Sepp Blatter to settle the controversy around the appointment of a CEO for South Africa's local organising committee for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Danny Jordaan - the man who spearheaded SA's 2010 bid - will take the position, with Irvin Khoza as chairman, while Molefi Oliphant will stand for re-election as president of the SA Football Association (Safa) later in the year.
All this emerged after a meeting between Blatter and Safa in Johannesburg on Wednesday - and a reminder from Blatter that the 2010 World Cup belonged to Fifa, not to its hosts.
Shortly after South Africa won the right to host the World Cup, a power struggle apparently emerged involving Jordaan, Safa's CEO, his deputy, Khoza, and the organisation's president, Oliphant.
While it was widely assumed - by Fifa, among others - that Jordaan would head up SA's 2010 organising committee, Oliphant was reportedly keen to have the post
of CEO advertised, in what some believed was a move to sideline Jordaan.
After Wednesday's meeting, however, Safa accepted Blatter's request not to advertise the post.
"Mr Jordaan will start [as CEO of the 2010 committee] in April or May whilst we are in the process of deciding how to replace him at Safa", Khoza told journalists. "Until then, he remains the CEO of Safa".
Khoza also implied that Oliphant, who was set to step down as Safa president at the end of his term in September, would make himself available for re-election.
Blatter said he was delighted by the decision. "These are the three men who helped bring the World Cup to South Africa. It is important that we have continuity."
Blatter said the world had full confidence in South Africa and its people to host soccer's most prestigious event, adding that the international community was showing a keen interest in the first World Cup to be staged in Africa.
"It was not an easy task to
convince the international community to make a change and to make sure the African continent got the World Cup", Blatter said.
"But now that it has, it seems the potential for financial investment is endless. In terms of the first results of international market interest, it is higher than in World Cup 2006."
On the second day of his visit, Blatter attended a ceremony at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where he received the Order of Companion of OR Tambo, South Africa's highest civilian award for foreign nationals, on behalf of Fifa's executive committee.
Handing over the award, President Thabo Mbeki praised Fifa's commitment to the development of football in Africa.
In his turn, Blatter praised Mbeki's leadership, saying the partnership between the government, business and the local soccer fraternity was the key to the success of the 2010 World Cup.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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