2010 World Cup doubt

Soccer boss Jordaan denies back-up plan to switch tournament to Australia

By LUXOLO MANTAMBO

THE DOUBT over South Africa’s likelihood of hosting the next soccer World Cup in 2010 – after Australia was said at the weekend to be named in a Fifa back-up plan – was dismissed yesterday by both President Thabo Mbeki’s office and South African soccer officials.

International soccer bodies were said to be abuzz with talk that the world’s greatest soccer showpiece could end up being hosted by Australia.

South Africa’s inadequate transport system, the scourge of crime, HIV/Aids and uncompleted accommodation facilities were cited in a report in the Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Rapport as being behind Fifa’s rethinking its decision to award the rights to host the tournament to South Africa.

But last night South Africans lined up to deny it. CEO of the 2010 soccer World Cup Local Organising Committee Danny Jordaan, speaking to the Daily Dispatch from Germany where he is part of the organising committee, said the report was absurd and “pure lies”.

“The claims are nonsense … If they have facts, they should put them on the table, not hide behind unknown sources.”

An unnamed Fifa official was quoted as saying that the task ahead for South Africa was monumental: “We have not started with the stadiums and the contract between Fifa and the SA government has not yet been finalised in Parliament. Anything can go wrong; our infrastructure is pathetic,” the source said in the Rapport article.

“Who are those people they (Rapport) spoke to?” demanded Jordaan. “If they were so desperate to get the views of Fifa, they should have gone to Fifa and Fifa would have given them someone who would be named in public.”

The President’s Office also reacted angrily. Presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga said: “It sounds like a fairy tale … something which will not happen.”

Also speaking from Germany last night, the SA Football Association’s vice-president Chief Mwelo Nonkonyana said it was “nonsense and lacked substance. There is nothing like that …. We are ready for the World Cup and everyone is confident that we will make the tournament a success. On July 7, we will be unveiling our logo to the rest of the world.”

Safa director of development Zola Dunywa said the scepticism might be because the World Cup is coming to Africa for the first time. “We hosted the rugby and cricket World Cups successfully. And we hosted the 1996 African Cup of Nations successfully. The 2010 administration under Jordaan is doing very well.”

But it is not the first time doubts have been raised. Tony Leon, leader of the Democratic Alliance, believes the country is “two years behind in its preparations, due to government sluggishness in processing all the legislation necessary for a successful tournament”.

And Econometrix senior economist Tony Twine believes “a very casual” attitude is being adopted by South Africans. “It’s going to be like the Rugby World Cup, the Cricket World Cup and the World Summit at the same time. I’m not sure we’re going to cope with it.”

Joe Phaahla, the government’s head of the organising committee, insists the stadium upgrade and construction programme is on schedule. And he said plans for infrastructure such as roads, transport and support services like security and safety, were also on track. — Additional reporting by Sapa