Here come the fat cats of FIFA again

March 1st, 2010 | by: SoccerLimey | Comments Off

This weekend sees the opening celebrations in the countdown to June 5th when the 2010 World Cup opens for business in South Africa. FIFA President Sepp Blatter joined many other dignitaries for a 100-day countdown bash in Durban. Local Organizing Committee Chief Executive Danny Jordaan will be present along with Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe. Other participating celebrities include Jay Jay Okocha, Roger Milla, Mark Fish, and Hossam Hassan.

Hossam Hassan

The trip coincides with the opening of Moses Mabhida stadium as a Group game venue and as a curtain raiser, the South African national team will play it’s opening friendly against Namibia on Wednesday evening.

The visitors have been suitably impressed with the progress that has been made towards readying the facilities and venues for the tournament. Although Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg still remains to be completely finished, FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke is confident that work will be completed on schedule.

The latest concerns surround the quality of playing surfaces that are available at both the host stadiums and at some of the training bases chosen by the participating teams. Last December England coach Fabio Capello had been very concerned with the pitches at their base of operations at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Campus near Phokeng. The fields were boggy and saturated so the English FA contracted Richard Hayden, from the Sports Turf Research Institute to work on improving their condition. He did such a good job that FIFA signed him up to work on all the problematic pitches around the training camps. On a recent visit back to the base, both Fabio Capello and Franco Baldini, Capello’s assistant, expressed delight at the condition of their headquarters.

With all of the complaints surrounding ticket sales, security, facility readiness and a host of other issues, it is warming to see the country in a more positive light and hopefully from this point forward, we can all relish the prospect of a memorable month in June.