Fifa president Joseph Blatter has urged the world to trust South Africa to deliver a successful Soccer World Cup.
”We have to trust in the Africans’ ability to organise the competition. Trust will give them confidence. If they have confidence, they will be better in the future, not only as footballers, but as organisers,” he said on Monday, as the 500-day countdown to the soccer tournament began.
Blatter praised South Africa for being a young republic, but an organised one.
”I am very happy that in 500 days the World Cup will kick off in South Africa. It will be an historical moment,” Blatter told Fifa.com in an interview from his office in Zurich. The text of the interview was distributed at a news conference in Johannesburg at Soccer City.
”The challenge for South Africa is to deliver the Fifa World Cup — and to deliver it at the highest possible level. They will do it — especially with all the arrangements they have made in terms of construction, technical and logistical infrastructure: transport, hospitality, accommodation… — because this country is organised.”
He dismissed concerns that the global economic crisis would affect preparations for the World Cup.
”The budgets have been composed, given and ratified. Naturally, we might not have the same return of investment as we had at the last World Cup in 2006, but the world was a different place then.
”For Fifa, it’s not important to get money out of Africa, but it’s important to us that the Africans enjoy organising their own World Cup — and they will do,” he said.
Asked whether he was confident that one day an African team would reach the semifinal, Blatter replied: ”One day they will be there, I just hope that it will be in the 2010 Fifa World Cup.” — Sapa