Tournament News
Blatter dances with joy
2008-09-15 14:34
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Sepp Blatter on visit to CT
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Cape Town - Fifa president Sepp Blatter claims he danced for joy after arriving in South Africa to check on preparations for the 2010 World Cup.
Yet, beneath the public posturing lie very real concerns about stadium construction delays, rising costs, rampant crime and lack of transportation.
Blatter was visiting Cape Town's Green Point stadium on Monday on the first full day of his four-day visit, which will also include tours of Soccer City in Johannesburg, the site of the opening and final match.
He is also set to meet South Africa's likely next President, Jacob Zuma, and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, whose lobbying helped bring the tournament to South Africa.
"South Africa is on track," Fifa general-secretary Jerome Valcke told a local radio station on Monday. "But it's sure there is no way that South Africa can lose a single day in preparation for the (2009) Confederations Cup and the World Cup because we are already on a tight schedule."
Fifa's decision to stage the World Cup in Africa for the first time was always guaranteed to be a gamble. And the speculation refuses to die that Fifa has a secret plan to move the tournament if organisational problems become insurmountable.
Both Fifa and South Africa have repeatedly denied there is any risk of this happening, bar a natural catastrophe.
"Plan B is South Africa. Plan C is South Africa," Blatter said for the umpteenth time after meeting President Thabo Mbeki late on Sunday.
For Blatter, the success of the 2010 tournament has become a personal crusade. He says he hopes that it will create an enduring legacy to benefit millions of people on the continent.
"When I left the plane and arrived on African soil, I started dancing," the 72-year-old Swiss told reporters at the news conference with Mbeki.
He may need to muster his nimblest footwork to avoid the many obstacles which loom.
Top of the list is public transport. Or rather the lack of it.
The government has set aside R13.6bn to improve rail and road links in venue cities. But it cannot hope to match the high-speed rail system which whisked fans effortlessly between venues in Germany in 2006, and South Korea and Japan in 2002.
Organisers hope the much-vaunted and hugely expensive Gautrain connecting Johannesburg's international airport with the city centre will be ready in time, but there is nothing similar planned for either Cape Town or Durban.
Valcke said Fifa was working closely with South African organisers to buy and hire buses to move fans around and was confident that "the transport system will be at a higher level than it is today."
Meanwhile, the government is stepping up efforts to persuade minibus taxi drivers, which provide the backbone of the public transport system, to exchange old dangerous vehicles for new ones and to be friendly to passengers.
Valcke also made soothing noises about the government's ability to rein in violent crime in a country where more than 50 people are killed each day, often for as little as a cell phone.
"I am not so much concerned by security today. I think we are going the right way," he said in the Radio 702 talk program, adding that it was impossible to be 100 percent safe even in cities like Paris and Zurich
Valcke said local organisers were working closely with Interpol and foreign police and security forces to keep out hooligans.
Listeners were unconvinced.
"Football hooligans are angels compared to the type of criminals we have in South Africa," said a caller who identified himself as Peter from Port Elizabeth. "I really don't believe Fifa realises what they have got themselves into. They have bitten off more than they can chew."
The South African government plans to increase police numbers to 190 000 by the time of the tournament, and points out that other major events like the rugby and cricket world cups passed off without serious incident. Police and the armed forces have also staged a number of high-profile dress rehearsals to prove they can protect South Africa's skies and seas from potential attack.
Fifa's accommodation agent MATCH has so far secured less than half the 55 000 rooms it needs for visitors and plans to step up marketing efforts to persuade hotel and guest house owners to sign up. South Africa has 80 000 graded rooms - more than enough to satisfy Fifa, according to government figures. Although there is plenty of accommodation in tourist centers like Cape Town and Durban and the economic hub of Johannesburg, rooms may be hard to find in more outlying areas like Polokwane.
Earlier concerns about the speed of stadium construction have eased. The stadium in Port Elizabeth will not be ready for the 2009 Confederations Cup but should be ready for 2010.
Cape Town's planned 68 000-seat semi-final arena, which was long delayed by political infighting and legal challenges, is now on target. Work is ahead slightly ahead of schedule at the other semi-final venue, Durban, and at the two stadiums in Johannesburg. Valcke said that even Beijing's "Bird Nest" Olympic stadium looked small compared to Soccer City.
The big unpredictable factor remains the weather, given that it will be winter. Temperatures are near freezing at night in Johannesburg; gales and torrential rain are buffeting Cape Town and even balmy Durban feels distinctly chilly.
Valcke conceded that it would be a challenge to convince supporters to stay and celebrate in frigid fan parks at night, adding it was "something we have to work on."
Above all, he urged South Africa to learn from Germany's experience in creating an atmosphere that bought Germans and foreigners together in mutual pride and celebration.
"The World Cup isn't just about 64 matches," he said. "It's more than just a game."