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PORT Elizabeth will keep its status as one of the five host cities for next year's Fifa Confederations Cup. <>This was announced by SA 2010 Fifa World Cup Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairman Irvin Khoza at a media briefing held at Safa House, Johannesburg, after a two-day deliberation by the board of directors.

The other venues will be Loftus, Ellies Park (both Gauteng), Royal Bafokeng (North-West) and Bloemfontein Stadium (Free State).

"We are satisfied that at this time Port Elizabeth is still compliant with the timelines we set for them," said Khoza to whistling and ululation from the tiny delegation from the Eastern Cape.

Khoza said there will be tight monitoring of all the five stadiums. PE was given until March to deliver the stadium unlike the other four venues that must be ready by December.

"The case of Port Elizabeth was always a special one as they are the only venue that is being built from scratch while the others only need refurbishments," said Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke.

A decision was also taken to change the ticket pricing for category one to four of the Confederations Cup tickets from dollars to rand.

"This was done to enable more South Africans to watch these matches," said LOC chief executive Danny Jordaan.

Deputy Finance Minister Jabu Moleketi announced that government has already spent R28.5 billion on dedicated World Cup projects.

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