2010: CT won't need R3.8bn

2006-07-25 16:47

Clare Nullis

Cape Town - South Africa will be ready to host the World Cup in 2010, organisers insisted Tuesday, seeking to dispel worries over transportation, accommodation and stadiums.

Danny Jordaan, head of the organising committee, said South Africa was ahead of schedule in its preparations and should relish the opportunities offered by the soccer showcase.

He disclosed that Fifa had already handed over $10m to South Africa to rebuild its national soccer team, which failed to qualify for this year's tournament in Germany.

South Africa, who also lost in the first round of the African Cup of Nations, hope to appoint former Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira as their new coach.

Parreira quit after Brazil were eliminated by France in the quarter-finals in Germany.

Fifa has also contributed $10m for a new headquarters for the South African Football Association. This serves as an advance payment of the $20m profit guaranteed to the host federation, Jordaan said.

"We are relaxed," Jordaan told a parliamentary committee debating the legislative framework for 2010. "We should not demoralise ourselves unnecessarily."

South Africa is the first African nation to be awarded the event and says the pride of the whole continent is at stake. Almost on a daily basis the government promotes the World Cup as a catalyst for economic growth.

South Africa will overcome problems

But already there has been a flurry of speculation that the tournament may be moved, with Australia mentioned as one possible alternative.

Fifa's top official in South Africa, Michael Palmer, dismissed such talk as "nonsense." He said the world soccer body is confident that South Africa will overcome problems associated with the lack of public transport and come up with sufficient accommodation for visitors.

Jordaan said South Africa is more advanced than Germany at a comparable stage in its planning. Germany - who won universal acclaim for organisation of this year's World Cup - completed six stadiums last year and two this year.

Jordaan said South Africa would be "hammered" for finishing stadiums so late.

The government has earmarked about R5bn for building and renovating 10 stadiums, and a further R8.7bn on upgrades to airports, roads and railway lines.

Cape Town - South Africa's top tourist destination - only last week gave the go-ahead to a planned semi-final stadium in the city centre but said the project was subject to a massive cash injection from the central government.

In a sign of the protracted budget wrangles ahead, organising committee members told parliament that they disputed Cape Town's claims that it would need R3.8bn to meet the cost of the new stadium.

With the exception of Cape Town, all the host cities have embraced the World Cup with gusto as a chance to put South Africa - so long synonymous with apartheid - on the world map.

Some 350 ,000 foreign visitors are expected to come for the monthlong tournament. On the income side, Jordaan said the tournament should create 129 000 jobs in an economy battered by high unemployment. He said it would lead to an additional R7.2bn in tax revenues.

- SAPA