World Cup 2010 will be a success, even if it is different

dpa German Press Agency Published: Thursday March 22, 2007

Hamburg- The 2010 World Cup in South Africa will be a
success even if it differs from previous editions, a German advisor
to the organizing committee was quoted as saying on Thursday.
Horst R. Schmidt, the general secretary of the German Football
Federation DFB and senior organizer of the 2006 World Cup in Germany,
said that South Africa was very capable of hosting the tournament and
should be treated in a fair way by others.

"I want to make it very clear that the northern and western world
should not permanently deal with South Africa in a subliminal tone of
incompetence," he said in an interview with Der Tagesspiegel
daily.

"The 2010 World Cup takes place in South Africa, on another
continent, in another country. There are different mentalities,
society phenomena, historical backgrounds and other approaches,"
Schmidt insisted.

The Frankfurter Rundschau quoted Schmidt as saying that the South
African government is making a big effort to guarantee security. But
he also insisted that neither the crime in the country nor the recent
problems around the work permit for South Africa coach Carlos Alberto
Parreira are World Cup related.

Schmidt said that recent construction problems have been overcome
now that all contractors have been appointed.

He admitted that improvement is needed in the area of
transportation, but pointed out that for instance Germany also faced
some problems in the run-up to the tournament.

"People are saying that everything went smooth and without
problems in Germany. That is not true. Organizing the World Cup in
Germany was a tough job. You have to get used to the different
conditions and pay the hosts the necessary respect," he said.

Schmidt also said that his appointment as advisor by the governing
body FIFA was not a sign of mistrust and that FIFA had no plan B of
stripping Africa of its first-ever World Cup.

"President (Joseph) Blatter makes it clear: Plan A is South
Africa, plan B is South Africa and plan C is South Africa. He
emphasises that there are no doubts that the 2010 World Cup will take
place in South Africa," said Schmidt.

"The World Cup in South Africa will be different than the one in
Germany, but not worse."

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency

Comment Here