SA in world spotlight as 2010 countdown begins
Mninawa Ntloko
Deputy Sports Editor, Business Day

BERLIN — As the curtain came down on the 2006 Fifa World Cup in Germany last night, world attention shifted to SA, which hosts the showcase amid scepticism as to whether the country will be ready — and an insistence by government that the 2010 version will be the best yet.

Preparations for the 2010 version will kick off in earnest this week after after a high-powered delegation, including President Thabo Mbeki, cabinet ministers and local organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan, took over responsibility for the tournament from Germany at the weekend.

Businessman and Mamelodi Sundowns boss Patrice Motsepe, who accompanied Jordaan to Germany, said he would galvanise the South African business community to throw its weight behind SA’s 2010 Soccer World Cup preparations.

“We will be meeting the president (Thabo Mbeki) on Wednesday to outline the plans business has for 2010,” he said.

“There are a lot of challenges ahead. The biggest for us as business is to channel more money towards football.”

The 2006 World Cup, widely hailed as the most successful yet, has raised the bar for all future hosts, particularly for SA.

The fact that Africa has never hosted a World Cup means that there will be uneasiness as the continent prepares for its first hosting effort amid scepticism related to high levels of violent crime and inadequate infrastructure, especially transport and accommodation.

Jordaan said in Germany he could not understand why critics believed that SA would not be able to host a successful event in four years’ time.

He said that SA was in fact ahead of schedule and, by comparison, even Germany had not achieved some of the successes SA had notched up four years before the 2006 tournament.

“Many people look at what the Germans have done and then wonder if SA will be able to match that. But when you compare Germany with SA, they did not even have a tournament logo at the time of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

“Had they already confirmed their host cities and stadiums before the 2002 tournament? Had the commercial sponsors already signed their contracts for the Germany-held Soccer World Cup? The answer is no.”

Jordaan said SA had already unveiled the 2010 tournament logo, and that the competition’s sponsors were on board and all the host cities and the stadiums had been announced.

On Friday, Fifa president Sepp Blatter reiterated his support for SA. A visibly emotional Blatter emphasised that SA was a trusted host.

Jordaan said the organising committee had set itself strict deadlines as preparations for the mammoth event gained momentum.

He said construction of the five new stadiums that have to be built for the tournament needed to be already under way by December this year.

New stadiums will be constructed in Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Polokwane and Mpumalanga, while Soccer City — also known as FNB stadium — Ellis Park, Loftus, Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein and Royal Bafokeng Stadium in North West will be refurbished.

“The period of construction of a stadium is about 36 months and yet some people are saying we will not be able to complete them on time. This has nothing to do with logic.

“It is absolutely important that this project succeeds, not for me, but for the African continent as a whole. This will almost be an image makeover for the continent.

“This is the beginning of a very long road.”

While the organising committee has already made appointments in key management positions, Jordaan said they would now focus their attention on issues related to infrastructure such as roads, airports, electricity and transport.

The German organising committee will be consulted during the preparations and SA is likely to regularly call on committee chairman Franz Beckenbauer over the next four years.

SA’s preparations will keep the Confederations Cup in mind as this will be the first event that will test the nation’s readiness — in 2009. Jordaan said while the Confederation Cup is hosted in only five cities, SA would want to have completed most of the basics by then.