Fifa local organising committee (LOC) chief executive Danny Jordaan told reporters on Wednesday that he was not a candidate in the recent Safa election and therefore has no opinion on it.
Jordaan was speaking at a press briefing on the completion of the 2010 Fifa World Cup stadiums.
Responding to a question from a journalist he said that he would not discuss Safa matters at a Fifa press briefing.
However, he did give a comment on the recent election.
”I withdrew from the election, the other candidate withdrew. There was only one candidate so there was no election.
”Only one candidate, and that person was duly appointed,” he said.
He was not a candidate and therefore had no opinion on the election of Kirsten Nematandani as Safa president at its annual general meeting on Saturday. Nematandani succeeds Molefi Oliphant.
Jordaan was speaking at a press briefing on the completion of the 2010 Fifa World Cup stadiums.
Responding to questions from journalists about the election, he said he would not discuss Safa matters at a Fifa press briefing.
The election of Nematandani followed Safa rules, he said.
However, it is being contested by the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
On Tuesday, PSL chief executive officer Kjetil Siem said the electoral officer at the Safa annual general meeting had ruled that the election should be postponed.
This, because of uncertainty over the eligibility for election of Jordaan and LOC and PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza.
”With the electoral officer having made this ruling, the meeting legally could not proceed,” Siem said.
Asked whether this meant he did not recognise Nematandani as Safa president, Siem replied: ”I did not say that.”
Wednesday’s briefing was held to discuss the status of renovations and construction on ten stadiums to be used in the 2010 World Cup.
”Everything is on track. There are one or two minor problems, but there were no alarm bells or anything major to worry about,” said LOC chief competitions officer Derek Blanckensee.
Apart from Soccer City and the new Greenpoint stadium in Cape Town, the other eight venues would be completed by the end of the year and on time.
”I expect both Soccer City and Greenpoint to be finished early in the new year,” said Blanckensee.
His announcement came after the completion of a week-long inspection tour by a 50-man delegation of the LOC and Fifa.
”The purpose of the tour was to make sure that everything will work inside and outside the stadiums,” said Blanckensee.
”What I mean is that the marketing, the media centres, where the referees change, where the team buses park [and] so on are all synergised.
”We are also making sure that the stadiums will leave a lasting legacy for the country. We are happy with what we saw and from that point we are well on track. The construction is also on schedule.”
Blanckensee said the pitches at the stadiums would be world class.
The LOC had learnt from the Confederations Cup that some of the pitches — those at Ellis Park, Loftus and the Free State stadium — were bumpy as rugby matches were played there shortly before the tournament.
”We have brought in a pitch expert to deal with that matter,” he said.
”On the plus side, we have agreed with the various rugby teams that they will stop playing matches on those venues in time to make sure we get them into tip-top condition for the World Cup.”
Fifa’s head of operations in South Africa Ron Delmont said the world body was satisfied that all 10 venues would be delivered on time. — Sapa