Johannesburg — LOOKING out across 60000 regimented chairs in Munich's futuristic Allianz Arena is a salutary moment. The view is impressive, even when the stadium is empty, save for a lone tractor driver shaving an excessive millimetre off the pristine grass below.

The 9800-vehicle car park is the largest in Europe and there is a train station outside. The arena can be evacuated in less than 10 minutes in an emergency.

This is the standard of facilities SA has committed to matching for the 2010 World Cup.

Last week businessmen, councillors and government project managers were hosted in Germany by T-Systems, the technology sponsor of the 2006 event, and by the German-South African Chamber of Trade and Commerce to get to grips with the magnitude of the project.

The â,B,(B340m Allianz Arena has an almost incomprehensible amount of technology woven through its fabric.

"The road to victory is paved with years of preparation," says Georg Wilms, a vice-president of Siemens. "There are so many elements you have to think about -- the transportation, the venues, the technology and communications infrastructure. All those projects require three to six years' preparation," he says.

The visitors met several German companies keen to offer advice and bid for contracts to conduct the work.

This is a dilemma. SA cannot afford to get it wrong, and the 2006 project has given German firms the experience to build stadiums, improve road and airport infrastructure, and put technologies in place to broadcast matches around the world.

"I think most of the contracts will be quietly handed to multinational companies like T-Systems because they can actually get the job done," says the CEO of a local logistics company.

"It will come down to skills, the price, and the plans they present. Hopefully, they will partner with local companies, but getting the job done has to be more important than empowerment.

"People will complain afterwards that we didn't control the event, so we have to make it as African as we can within those international constraints."

Transport Minister Jeff Radebe says it is impossible to speculate on how much of the design, construction and technology work for 2010 will outsourced to foreign companies.

"For the procurement of infrastructure, technologies and services that will be run by government tenders, our normal policies in terms of empowerment will be applicable," he says.

"There may be areas where we encourage overseas companies to come to SA, but it's not the issue that SA needs foreign companies unless they win in a competitive bidding process."

Project managers in Durban are anxious not to pass the ball to foreign businesses.

"Our policy is that any work we do for 2010 has to benefit the public, businesses and the economy of KwaZulu-Natal. That's not negotiable," says Lunga Madlala, head of information technology at eThekwini municipality.

"If a company wants to partner with the City of Durban it will work on those terms. We are not going to import skills and experience unless it makes sense."

Dimension Data's chief technology officer, Ettienne Reinecke, agrees that SA has the necessary skills to tackle the job.

Soccer's ruling body, Fifa, may insist that international sponsors or international technologies win deals, Reinecke warns, but the main risk is of internal squabbles.

"I have a big fear that politics might derail this," Reinecke says.

"You have to get the balance right between skills and black empowerment. We are marketing SA to 1,5-million visitors and this could be the best thing that ever happened to us as a country."

Some people fear SA is leaving its plans too late. Others argue that clarity on exactly what SA is expected to achieve will only come after 2006, when Fifa assesses what worked well in Germany and what needs changing.

For example, the Germans are building a central control room for the media so transmissions from 12 stadiums can be fed through for editing in dozens of television and radio studios.

That's a major expense, but after a few frantic weeks, it will be redundant.

SA has committed to build a similar centre at Nasrec in Johannesburg. But Fifa is questioning whether that is really necessary, as broadcasts can be handled equally well from stadiums.

Ensuring that sufficient infrastructure is created for the World Cup must not tip SA into draining resources it can ill afford on facilities way beyond its needs.

"We must make sure Jo'burg doesn't push all its resources into one event without making sure it will leave a legacy," says Amanda Nair, executive director with the City of Johannesburg.

"We mustn't make a massive investment which doesn't have any relevance later."