SA angry at bid to 'steal' SWC

2006-11-27 09:48

Johannesburg - Long-time rivals on the rugby field and cricket pitch, South Africa is now crying foul over what it sees as a bid by Australia to snatch away the biggest sporting event of all - the Soccer World Cup.

When South Africa won the contest to host the next World Cup by soccer's world governing body Fifa in May 2004, joy and relief abounded in equal measure in a country which narrowly lost out on hosting this year's event to Germany.

So Danny Jordaan, the chief World Cup 2010 organiser who masterminded the failed bid for 2006, is not about to allow Australian suggestions that South Africa is not gettting its act together this time around to go unanswered.

"I don't know what is wrong with these people (the Australians)," Jordaan said.

"Mr Sepp Blatter (Fifa's chief executive) has said many times before that Plan A is to host the World Cup is South Africa, Plan B is South Africa, and Plan C is still South Africa.

A number of Australian officials have not only publicly doubted South Africa's ability to host the tournament for the first time ever in Africa but have then followed their aspersisons with offers to host the event themselves.

Football Federation Australia chief John O'Neill, who is planning an official bid for the tournament in 2018, said recently that Australia should be "absolutely opportunistic."

"There's all sorts of question marks about infrastructure or requirements in South Africa. Australia doesn't have those problems," he said.

The premier of New South Wales, Morris Iemma, has also infuriated officials in South Africa after stating that Australia has "the capacity to step into the breach at a moment's notice" thanks to its hosting of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

"If it can't come off with South Africa, and there are doubts that it can, then we are by far the best alternative," he was quoted as saying by Australia's Daily Telegraph newspaper.

While the South African government has called the recent comments from Australia "totally unacceptable", the very suggestion that the World Cup could be relocated has infuriated South African sporting heroes.

'Doctor' Khumalo, a former captain of the Bafana Bafana national team and ex-coach of Kaizer Chiefs, said the Australians should accept the tournament is coming to South Africa and stop trying to "steal" it.

Kepler Wessels, the first captain of the South African cricket team after its apartheid era ban was lifted and who also played Tests for Australia, said any attempt to snatch the tournament away would be unsportsmanlike.

After expressing some concerns about preparations several months back, a Fifa delegation which visited South Africa last week expressed broad satisfaction with the rate of progress being made.

"They cleared the air and told everybody this week that they were satisfied with the preperations so far," said Jordaan.

"In fact, they said we are not only on track but ahead of schedule, better than the Germans," added Jordaan.

- AFP