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Mbeki defends 2010
preparations
South Africa is further down the road in its preparations for the 2010 World
Cup than any other previous host nation, says President Thabo Mbeki.
In his weekly newsletter to the ruling African National Congress (ANC) on
Friday, Mbeki knocked back any suggestion the tournament would be held
elsewhere and rejected fears that stadia would not completed on time.
"The truth is that with regard to 2010, we have beaten all previous records
with regard to the preparations for the successful hosting of the World Cup,
including the benchmarks set by the highly successful 2006 World Cup in
Germany," said Mbeki.
"I am happy to report that the joint efforts of Fifa, the Local Organising
Committee and the South African government, have established solid
foundations for what will be an exceptional event."
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has previously expressed misgivings about the
lack of construction and renovation work on the 10 venues for the
tournament.
But Mbeki said building work at the stadium in Johannesburg, which will host
the final, would start early next year, and earth-moving and piling
operations were already underway in Durban, Port Elizabeth and Nelspruit.
Mbeki also rubbished the notion "that some countries were already standing
by to take over this responsibility from us, since it was certain that we
would definitely fail to do the things Fifa required of us".
Football Federation Australia issued a statement earlier this month to
dampen down speculation that it would offer itself as an alternative venue
after its chief executive John O'Neill had said there were "all sorts of
question marks" about South Africa's ability to stage the tournament.
"Most fortunately, consistently, .... Sepp Blatter, insisted correctly that
our country was perfectly capable of hosting the World Cup, and would indeed
do so," said Mbeki.
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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 24 2006