Schmidt: World Cup 2010 Will Be A Success, Even If It
Is Different
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."
,
March 22nd 2007.
Russian ladies dream about happy marriage.
Click on a photo...
