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Johannesburg - With only 300 days left before the start of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and governing body Fifa are optimistic that come kickoff on June 11 2010, South Africa will be ready and the tournament will be successful.
However, questions have been asked about the readiness of stadia, transport, and whether the country is prepared for the expected influx of visitors.
LOC media manager Jermaine Craig said: "Those that are not confident that the country will be ready for the hosting of the event are mistaken, as the LOC is well on track for the soccer spectacular and the readiness of stadiums is looking quite good.
"Stadia are 85% complete, and the only one that may be slightly behind is the Green Point stadium [in Cape Town] - we are also expecting it, with the other stadia, to be complete by December, which is the scheduled completion time."
The LOC has recently come under fire from Fifa, which claimed that not enough "robust and visible promotion" of the event was done by the organising committee.
Earlier this year, government spokesperson Themba Maseko also cracked the whip on the LOC, saying government was concerned that not enough South Africans are buying tickets for the event. He also called for more marketing of the event in the country.
Craig said marketing issues have been addressed. "The LOC is doing a lot to create awareness of the event, and of the estimated 700 000 tickets that have been sold, about half of them belong to South Africans."
He said the LOC and Fifa partners would launch the ticket fund scheme on Friday to create more awareness for the event.
"Through the fund, Fifa has allocated 120 000 complimentary tickets for South Africans; 40 000 of these will be given to stadia construction workers as a gesture of appreciation," said Craig.
According to the National Taxi Association (NTA) general secretary Alpheus Mlalazi, his association is ready to provide transport for the event and has proved its readiness during the Confederations Cup.
- Fin24.com