The LOC has slammed a company marketing stab-proof vests to fans visiting South Africa for the World Cup as "scare tactics" to profit off crime fears.

Despite the chaos in Cape Town last Friday, World Cup organisers say all will be under control come crunch time, writes Lucky Sindane.

Organisers of the Confederations Cup on Friday hailed the tournament for uniting South Africans in a way no other sporting code has managed.

Tim Modise's days at the 2010 local organising committee (LOC) are numbered and the only questions are whether he will fall on his own sword or be axed, say informed sources close to the LOC and in the government. The sources told the Mail & Guardian the one-time star broadcaster is struggling with his role as chief officer of communications and marketing.

South Africa's ability to stage the world's most widely watched sporting event will undergo intensive scrutiny on Sunday when it hosts the qualifying draw for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Thousands of football administrators and journalists will be present in Durban, with hundreds of millions more watching on television, for an extravaganza designed to silence the sceptics.

In the run-up to the World Cup preliminary draw in Durban on Sunday, fresh questions are being raised over South Africa's preparedness to host the world's second-largest sporting event in 932 days. Once again the spotlight is on the 10 World Cup stadiums after strikes by thousands of workers.

With just about 1 000 days to go to the 2010 Soccer World Cup, South African media fears about the commercialisation of the tournament and how it could hamper effective coverage of the event seem well-founded. Fifa marketing executive Sandile Ndzekeli refused to grant the Mail & Guardian the right to publish the images of three 2010 World Cup posters.