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2010: Doubts help security
02/04/2007 16:14 - (SA)
Barcelona - Former South African
international Lucas Radebe believes that the concerns about the
security situation in the country ahead of the World Cup in 2010
will help organisers ensure an incident-free tournament.
"There have been a lot of doubts about the security and
about our capacity to stage the tournament, but those concerns
will only help us to solve those important issues," Radebe said
at the Laureus sports awards on Monday.
"In actual fact the security situation has been improved
greatly and things have been tightened up a lot. I think you'll
see a different South Africa when the time comes round."
The former Leeds United player, who began his career with
Kaizer Chiefs, was shot in South Africa in 1991. The motive for
the attack was never established although at the time there were
several cases of players being shot in reprisal for transferring
to other teams.
The 37-year-old, who is hoping to take on an ambassadorial
role for the 2010 event, believes the tournament will give South
Africa the chance to show that its domestic problems do not mean
it is not capable of staging another major sporting competition.
"We staged the Rugby World Cup in 1995 and the African
Nations Cup in 1996 and the World Cup will give us a chance to
show just how far we've come since then," he said.
"We can handle these type of events and it will allow us to
show what South Africa is really like."
- Reuters
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