2010 World Cup in SA and that's it, says Jordaan

ohannesburg will host the Soccer World Cup's final match.

The question of whether the 2010 Soccer World Cup will take place in South Africa was no longer an issue, the chief executive of the Danny Jordaan, local organising committee, said yesterday.

Speaking at a conference on the accommodation industry preparedness for the 2010 Cup in Johannesburg, Jordaan said the World Cup has already generated $3.5 billion in revenue for FIFA. "We have in 2007 already exceeded Fifa's revenue quota of 3.5 billion US dollars," Jordaan said.

As for issues on the ground Jordaan said the soil turning ceremony for the last of five new stadiums will take place in Polokwane today. "We have thus delivered on our promise to the world to start construction in the first half of this year," he said.

In the meantime Adam Brown, senior executive of Match - the FIFA-appointed agency for ticketing and accommodation - said they would start looking for 30 000 additional rooms for accommodation in the next few weeks.

The agency already has 25 000 of the 55 000 rooms needed to accommodate officials, the media and fans. "We will be able to deliver 55 000 rooms for 2010," he said. - Sapa