It's 2010 South Africa: Fifa
4 October 2006
Fifa's top brass have scotched rumours that the 2010 World Cup could be taken away from South Africa, with Fifa general secretary Urs Linsi saying the body had no doubt that the country would overcome its "teething problems" in preparing for the event.
Linsi, in Johannesburg to attend a 2010 local organising committee board meeting, said on Tuesday that Fifa had "no doubts the 2010 World Cup will be played in South Africa.
"Wherever the World Cup has been played, the impact has been huge," The Star reported Lins as saying. "Now it's in Africa. It's your World Cup, our World Cup, and we are sure it will also have a huge impact and be a great success."
Referring to delays in starting construction of the country's World Cup stadiums, Lins said it was "natural to have these teething problems," adding: "They are there to be solved, and we see no reason why this cannot be done with a whole-hearted effort all-round."
Regarding the country's crime rate, Lins remarked: "In some respects it's a crazy world, and in Germany there was the challenge of the terrorist threat. Crime was also a challenge in Japan and Korea in 2002 and in France in 1998."
The Star quoted Lins as saying he was "confident South Africa's police will be prepared for 2010. They understand the challenges, and they're very well connected and work with people around the world to combat crime."
Stadium construction to start January
According to Business Day, local organising committee chairman Irvin Khoza told journalists at the media briefing that SA's deadline for starting construction of five new stadiums, and refurbishment of five more, was January 2007.
Khoza also said the job would cost R8.3-billion - three times more than the original estimates.
"We have secured permission to circumvent a great deal of the red tape normally in place before government funding takes place," Business Day quotes Khoza as saying. "With the new budget due to be ratified on October 24, we should be able to start construction early in the new year."
Beckenbauer apologises
Khoza also released a letter from German football great Franz Beckenbauer, in which the latter apologised for the confusion caused by his recent comments on South Africa's 2010 preparations.
Beckenbauer was quoted last month as saying that SA's preparations were fraught with problems. "But these are not SA problems, these are African problems. People are working against rather than with each other."
In his letter, addressed to local organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan, Beckenbauer said he was "very sorry that these statements were falsely portrayed, and I shall do everything in my power to support the World Cup in South Africa 2010."
Beckenbauer added that "[a]t no point did I mention that Germany could be a substitute organiser. On the contrary, it is my own and my colleagues' understanding that it is most important that the upcoming World Cup in South Africa is a success."
Transfer of know-how from Germany
Fifa's newly appointed consultant for the 2010 World Cup, Horst Schmidt, was also present at the press conference, and he made it clear that he is looking forward to the challenge.
The general secretary of Germany's football association, and one of the driving forces behind the success of Germany 2006, said that 2006 was his tenth World Cup, "and I can tell you the circumstances and the conditions of the World Cup have been completely different over the years."
While Urs Linsi, according to Fifa, "bears ultimate responsibility for the organisation of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa," Schmidt will spend seven days per month as the coordinator of Fifa's 2010 World Cup project, serving as Linsi's "extended arm" in South Africa and Zurich when it comes to the day-to-day management of preparations for the event.
Announcing Schmidt's appointment, Fifa said in a statement that in view of the "ever increasing demands of World Cup organisation, Fifa is making an increasingly intensive contribution to the process by guaranteeing the direct transfer of know-how from one host nation to the next."
Fifa has had permanent representation in South Africa since the start of 2006, and is due to move into its new offices in Safa House, the Johannesburg headquarters of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, at the end of October.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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