PORT Elizabeth's 2010 soccer World Cup build-up suffered a crushing blow
last night when the city was kicked out of next year's Fifa Confederations
Cup.
Business and tourism organisations reacted with shock and disappointment
at the decision, which came after delays in construction of the stadium
in North End.
The Confederation Cup is being used as a test for 2010.
The announcement was made after a 2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC)
board meeting in Johannesburg. The board met a Fifa delegation led by
its secretary general, Jerome Valcke, and received updates on the progress
at all 10 Fifa World Cup stadiums from the technical team.
While it was noted that significant progress had been made on the R1,5-billion
Port Elizabeth stadium and that it would be ready for the World Cup, the
technical team reported that it was unlikely to meet next year's March
30 deadline for completion.
LOC chairman Irvin Khoza said: 'We acknowledge the progress that has been
made on the Port Elizabeth stadium in recent months.
'With the complex nature of the construction and erection of the roof,
however, it was decided that it would be too high a risk to keep the stadium
in the Fifa Confederations Cup schedule.'
Valcke said Fifa fully supported the decision and the ongoing monitoring
by the technical team of developments in Port Elizabeth.
'The board showed that it is not afraid to take tough decisions to ensure
the overall success of the Fifa Confederations Cup,' he said.
Khoza said the stadium was still expected to be one of the 10 venues for
World Cup matches in 2010.
'The stadium has been one of the star performers of the Fifa World Cup
construction process and again, we reiterate that the stadium will be
a wonderful venue in 2010,' he said.
Acting mayor Bicks Ndoni reiterated that the R1,5-billion multi-purpose
stadium would be ready by March next year, and would have been able to
host matches for the Confederations Cup.
'We can only assume that the decision has been made for reasons other
than technical,' he said.
Ndoni said the municipality and business and tourism bodies were baffled
both by the decision and the reason given. 'Firstly, the Nelson Mandela
Bay stadium will be ready and in full compliance of Fifa standards by
March 2009. This is in accordance with the plan and schedule as jointly
agreed with the LOC, its technical team and Fifa.
'In terms of this work plan, we are currently ahead of schedule with respect
to certain elements of the plan.
'For all other elements thereof, we are well within the time frames and
schedule.
'An element of concern that has been raised previously by the LOC was
the production and assembly of the roof. Here again, we can categorically
confirm that our production and assembly schedule is 100 per cent on track.'
Ndoni said that in addition to the stadium, all other programmes in preparation
for both the Confederations Cup and the World Cup were at advanced stages.
'These functions include infrastructure development, transportation, health
and emergency services, safety and security, tourism and accommodation,
communications and marketing, and the volunteer programme,' he said.
The stadium blow comes on the eve of the launch of the metro's leg of
the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup volunteer recruitment programme in which
15000 people are sought countrywide.
Ndoni said this event, scheduled for today, had now been cancelled.
Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism chief executive Fezekile Tshiwula said the
decision was 'a terrible blow' as the city had already started preparations
for the Confederations Cup.
'It is a major disappointment if it is the final decision. We were looking
forward to hosting people from other countries, especially from Africa.
We were going to Kenya to promote our city as a destination as we had
heard that there were fan clubs who had saved up for more than two years
to come to our country to watch the cup.'
Nafcoc regional chairman Kutloano Headbush said he was 'shocked and saddened'
by the news.
'This is going to affect our planning in terms of business, especially
the hospitality and transport businesses. We were hoping to use the Confederations
Cup as a dry run. I hope this is not a sign of no-confidence in terms
of us finishing the stadium.'
