The local organising committee has cleared its first hurdle in the race to have amenities in place for the 2010 Soccer World Cup by balancing a stadium budget R3,4-billion over the original R8,7-billion.
This was done by trimming costs and obtaining additional finance from the municipalities where games would be played, LOC chairperson Irvin Khoza said on Tuesday after two days of talks by the World Cup organising committee’s board of directors.
The talks were attended by Fifa general secretary Dr Urs Linsi and vice-president David Will, who will head the tournament’s ticketing committee.
They made it clear there was no room for complacency and that all 10 stadiums — including the ones being built from scratch — would have to be completely ready by October 31 2009.
Nothing could be done to finalise ticket arrangements until everything was in place, said Will, adding that it was too soon to give details of ticket allocations.
The demand for tickets worldwide was double what could be provided, added Linsi.
”The meeting we held was to bounce off ideas and any possible obstacles and problems,” said Will.
”Now we know where to begin — and that is exactly what we will be doing immediately.” – Sapa