To the surprise of many — including a few sportswriters who live in the country — South Africa continues to pass FIFA’s regular progress inspections in preparation for hosting the 2010 World Cup. During the most recent visit, South African organizers brought executives from the game’s world governing body on a tour to the four most important host cities: Johannesburg, site of the opening and final match, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth. There will be nine host cities in all.
In addition to stadium progress, the delegation also received reports on accommodations, public transportation — a massive problem for each of these cities — finances and safety, another big concern for organizers. The AP report didn’t elaborate on how these issues are being addressed.
Even so, Alain Leiblang, FIFA’s head of media operation for the 2010 tournament, sounded pleased: “We were able to see signs of huge transformation in the host cities.” Dennis Mumble, a representative of the local organizing committee, added, “We are quite happy that the program is on track. What we set out to do with this inspection tour, we achieved. There are challenges and adjustments that need to be made, but that’s the reason for tours such as this, to address those.”