11 Jun 2008South Africa hint at hard times before the 2010 World Cup

Football Finance News | Football Leagues/ Association and Governance | Football Technology and Stadia

Today (June 11th) marks precisely two years to the first match of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but there are major concerns about the country's budget.

With a proposed cost of $1.24 billion, the South African World Cup Organising Committee chief executive, Danny Jordaan, has admitted that the figure now looks too low.

"Final costs of the stadiums are soaring as a result of the downturn in the world economy," Mr Jordaan told Reuters.

"We don't know what the final impact of the economic downturn and rising fuel prices will be on our costs… It's unfortunately a moving target."

South Africa has been working on the World Cup preparations for four years already, and the major overhaul of the country's football stadiums will nevertheless be complete, Mr Jordaan argued.

"I think what we've achieved since May 2004 gives me a level of contentment and confidence that the event will be a success.

"Our stadiums will be world class."

Mr Jordaan also took the time to condemn the wave of anti-immigrant violence that erupted in South Africa in May.

The chief executive has stressed to fans that the violence will not be present in 2010, and that they should not be concerned about visiting to support their team.

© Copyright