Safa boss assures Mbeki

2006-02-03 15:55

Johannesburg - The South African Football Association (Safa) is fully committed to ensuring the 2010 Fifa World Cup is the best ever - and that South Africa fields a winning team.

That was the response from Safa chief executive Raymond Hack to comments made by President Thabo Mbeki in his state of the nation address at the opening of Parliament in Cape Town on Friday.

"I'm afraid our performance in the current African Cup of Nations in Egypt did nothing to advertise our strengths as a winning nation," Mbeki told a joint sitting of the houses of parliament.

The African renaissance

"However, starting today, the nation must bend every effort to ensure that we meet all the expectations of Fifa and the world of soccer, so that we host the best Soccer World Cup ever.

"The 2010 Soccer World Cup will make an important contribution to our effort to accelerate our progress towards the achievement of a goal of a better life for our people.

"Similarly, as an African Soccer World Cup, it will give an additional impetus to our struggle to achieve Africa's renaissance.

"In return for these irreplaceable benefits, we owe it to Fifa and the rest of the soccer world to prepare properly for 2010.

"I trust that the domestic world of soccer will respond to this challenge with all necessary seriousness, commitment and patriotism," the president said.

The nations wants a winning team

Hack told Sapa that Safa had heard and understood Mbeki's criticism of Bafana Bafana's performance in Egypt - but he gave the assurance that Safa was committed to delivering what the president wanted.

"We also want to deliver what the nation wants," he added. "President Mbeki and the nation want a winning team and a winning nation, and that's what we are working towards.

"We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to meet the expectations of Fifa, the president and South Africa.

"We respect the president's concerns, but he can rest assured that Safa has plans in place to ensure that the 2010 Soccer World Cup is the best ever," said Hack.

- SAPA