Fifa president Sepp Blatter insisted Tuesday that South Africa will definitely host the 2010 World Cup barring a natural disaster.
South Africa will be the first African nation to host football’s showpiece event, but reports of delays in stadium construction have raised questions as to whether the tournament would go ahead.
Blatter stirred the pot last month by pointing out that there were fallback options in the United States, Mexico or Japan in the event of an emergency.
But he said on the sidelines of the Asian Football Confederation congress here that there was no way any country other than South Africa would host the event.
”I can tell you that unless there is a natural catastrophe, then the World Cup 2010 will definitely be in South Africa,” he said.
”It is my last statement on this. I will repeat it in the Fifa Congress [later this month]. There will be seven South African ministers there and I will have a special meeting with them.
”They have been alarmed because we said we had contingency plans, but we always have contingency plans or it wouldn’t be good governance.
”But the World Cup 2010 will not be taken away from South Africa.” – Sapa-AFP