Mark Namanya
22 June 2009
(Page 2 of 2)
Dubious officiating
Dodgy refereeing decisions have cost African teams at the World Cup, a thing Jordaan is too aware of. But rather than benefit from dubious officiating, which he is not expecting anyway, Jordaan wants an African team to win the tournament because "it presented the best team and not anything else."
"We do not want ifs and buts after July 11 2010. Ivory Coast have Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Kolo Toure and Yaya, all world class players. Egypt, alongside Spain, has the most efficient unit in world football in my opinion. But Africa's best teams are taken down by their own failures. Caf should probably do a symposium for all Africa's 2010 representatives before the tournament to help prepare teams. Ask yourself, when Yaya Toure plays for Barcelona, he is brilliant. When the same player goes to Ivory Coast, there is something missing. There is a certain platform of administrative support missing, Same applies to Samuel Eto'o and so many others. Efficiency, organisation and discipline are a must."
With just under a year to go, Jordaan knows there are challenges that need to be addressed by both Fifa and the Local Organising Committe (LOC). Thus there is no room for complacency. "We have to educate the fans in time, we have prevailing issues with the vuvuzelas and the park and ride system (where fans park their vehicles so far away to be taken free of charge by shuttles to the stadiums) has not been gladly welcomed. We are dealing with all these problems."
Controversial vuvuzelas
Asked why the vuvuzelas are a subject of debate, Jordaan clarified. "The rules are clear; no one can enter the World Cup pitch with a missile. A vuvuzela could pass for a missile. We have argued this with Fifa that the vuvuzela is part of South African and African culture and will help define our tournament. But there is always a possibility that other fans may take vuvuzelas to the pitch and use them for other things. That; we mustn't forget. A decision will be made by the world governing body Fifa once we sit to review the tournament (Confederations Cup). We have to understand that verdict will be in the interest of football and the World Cup."
South Africa's experience at hosting global sporting competitions gives the Rainbow country greater belief that the tournament with be successful, according to Jordaan. "This country has hosted the Africa Cup of Nations, the Rugby World Cup, the recent British and Irish Lions tour, the Cricket World Cup, the India Premier League and so much more. The passion it has for sports is obvious and the experience of handling a competition of the World Cup's size will not be new."
Jordaan is more than convinced the World Cup will be a watershed moment for South Africa and Africa. "I am optimistic people will talk about South Africa's pre and post 2010 for a long, long time. The 2010 Fifa World Cup must be the end of an era and the beginning of a new era. Our first bid (to host) started with Mandela as President, the 2010 bid with Thabo Mbeki as president and we are now going into the implementation phase of the tournament with Jacob Zuma as President. We have had three national elections and two local government elections over the course of this project meaning constant change in the people we have had to deal with. But the commitment from the South African government has been consistent." The World Cup, Jordaan emphasises, will be the realisation of Mandela's lifetime wish for South African people.
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Excellent well balanced article. We have been in contact with German, Dutch, Russian and Chinese media pro-actively as well to get the balanced stories out. Congratulations to South Africa for hosting an excellent Confed Cup.