SA Rugby has the full backing of the government for its 2011 Rugby World Cup bid, Francois Pienaar, bid committee chief executive, said on Wednesday.
”We have a letter from the minister saying he supports rugby,” said Pienaar, who spoke at a media briefing in Cape Town.
A sports ministry spokesperson recently said the government will withdraw its backing should SA Rugby fail to transform.
However, Pienaar said the government’s backing is not in doubt and that SA Rugby will unveil a transformation charter on April 1.
South Africa is currently compiling its bid book with the help of former South African Rugby Football Union chief executive Edward Griffiths.
”It will be over 400 pages, with 59 letters of approval,” said Pienaar.
After that, the process will enter the lobbying phase. The International Rugby Board will undertake an evaluation tour in July and the decision will be made in November. South Africa’s bid rivals are New Zealand and Japan.
Rugby will dovetail closely with soccer as the former will benefit from all the facilities that will be in place after the Fifa World Cup tournament in 2010.
”We will use the same skills, stadia, hotels, transport and communications infrastructure,” said Pienaar.
He gave a ”conservative estimate” of 25 000 jobs being created. It is also anticipated that the event can inject R11-billion into the South African economy.
Pienaar said South Africa’s main advantages are that the country is a prime tourist destination, is in an optimal time zone for television and has excellent weather.
Should South Africa win the rights to host the tournament, the final will be hosted at the FNB Stadium rather than Ellis Park. The FNB Stadium will be a ”world-class” 98 000-seater stadium following the upgrades for the Soccer World Cup. — Sapa