Tournament News
Jordaan's journey to 2010
2010-02-16 16:40
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Johannesburg - The chief World Cup organiser campaigned to keep South Africa out of international sports as an anti-apartheid activist in the 1970s. Today, he says the country is "inviting the whole world to come here".
In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Danny Jordaan recalled how during apartheid South Africa he was denied the right to vote.
Now he's leading efforts to organise the first World Cup to be held on the African continent. Jordaan said on Tuesday he was confident the country will be ready.
"There are still things that we have to fine tune," he said, citing mass transportation in the 10 host cities and landscaping at the 11 stadiums. "I am comfortable as I sit here today with 100 days just around the corner."
Jordaan and other organisers have had to answer repeated questions about whether South Africa - an impoverished country with a high crime rate - was capable of hosting a World Cup. On Tuesday, he said that those who were still doubters were ignorant.
"Clearly it's a mistake to think it's a mistake to host the World Cup in South Africa," he said. "There's a huge gap between the perceptions of some people and the reality of our country."
He noted that South Africa has hosted scores of major international events, including last year's World Cup curtain raiser, the Confederations Cup, during which visitors were largely safe from crime.
Some observers worry that South Africa's dangerous reputation and the global recession will keep World Cup visitors away. Jordaan said 2m of 2.9m tickets have been sold, and that he expected the tournament to be sold out. He was more concerned about enough flights being available for ticket holders, an issue he said was being addressed.