10/06/2008 12:29

Johannesburg - Two years ahead of the opening match at the 2010 Soccer World Cup, organisers in South Africa are having to dig deeper into their pockets to match the soaring costs of constructing the tournament's stadiums.

Organising committee chief executive officer Danny Jordaan said that he expected the final cost for the construction and renovation of 10 venues for the finals to finish well above the current budget of R9.8bn.

"It will probably be over R10bn," Jordaan said, adding that the financing of the venues remained a challenge.

"We are dealing with now with final costs of the stadiums, which are soaring as a result of the downturn in the world economy and rising fuel prices," he said.

"There are still some final items to go out for tender with the potential for cost overruns. We have been encouraging all the cities to finalise all the items they still need to get out to tender.

"At the moment, 94% of items have been procured but some of the cities still need to secure some major materials.

"We don't know what the final impact of the economic downturn will be on our costs. It's unfortunately a moving target."

Confidence

Despite his concerns, Jordaan promised "a wonderful event", which will begin at Johannesburg's 94 000-seater Soccer City Stadium on June 11, 2010.

"I think what we've achieved since May 2004 gives me a level of contentment and confidence that the event will be a success," he added.

South Africa were awarded the right to host the 2010 event four years ago, winning an-all Africa contest ahead of Morocco, Egypt and a joint-bid from Tunisia and Libya.

"I'm happy with how quickly we have come along and with the legacy we are going to leave for football in this country. Our stadiums will be world class," Jordaan said.

South Africa are upgrading five existing venues and building five new stadium for the 32-team event.

Initial estimates for stadium construction and renovation were set at just under six billion rand while a further R13.6bn is being invested in infrastructure directly related to the tournament.