08/09/2008 12:04

Johannesburg - Danny Jordaan, the chief executive of the LOC for the 2010 World Cup, insisted on Sunday that South Africa "is on schedule" to host the tournament and dismissed rumours Germany could step in as a replacement.

Jordaan added that Fifa president Sepp Blatter would be impressed the next time he visits South Africa at the progress made here in recent months.

Blatter will on September 14 begin a four-day visit to South Africa, during which he would visit World Cup facilities in the major cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town.

"We are on time and there will be no more strikes on the construction building sites," Jordaan was quoted in Sunday's edition of Die Welt.

The announcement in July, that the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth would not be ready by the time of the Confederations Cup in 2009 - the traditional World Cup dress rehearsal - had caused fresh doubts over South Africa's ability to host the tournament.

But Jordaan insisted the idea of another country replacing South Africa as hosts was incomprehensible.

"No country would be in the position to host the World Cup in such a short period of time, not even Germany," he insisted, adding all stadiums would be ready by the end of October 2009.

The World Cup, will be preceded next year by the Fifa Confederations Cup, to be staged in four stadia across South Africa from June 14 to 28 next year.

The draw for the Confederations Cup, will be made on November 22 this year and the tickets will be put on sale five days later.