FIFA REVIEW PRAISE'S "PERFECT" WORLD CUP

By Trevor Thompson

Updated Sun Jun 27, 2010 8:26am AEST

FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke says the South Africa 2010 World Cup is running close to perfection.

Speaking in Johannesburg at a half-time review of the Cup, Valcke said that despite a few early problems with transport and police co-ordination, there were no significant difficulties to be dealt with.

"If, on July 11 we are on the same level we are on today, I would say it's a perfect World Cup," he said.

"Its a great organisation and we are beyond expectations, we are beyond the number of international visitors to South Africa, we are beyond the target on ticketing, we are beyond the number of ticket sales we had in Germany 2006."

Valcke was effusive in his praise for local organisers, even saying South Africa could be the automatic default venue if another hosting country ran into trouble.

"Maybe we will be able to say at the end of the World Cup again, if everything is perfect, we'll be able to say that South Africa will become the Plan B for any future organisers of the World Cup," he said.

While he was full of praise for the organisational side of the tournament, he was less complimentary about the quality of the football on display.

"It's sure that we have not seen always great, great football, but I think it was a good football level," he said.

He remarked that more than ever before, football is a world wide sport and that although the African teams had not done well, Asian teams Japan and South Korea had excelled.

Valcke also noted that all the South American teams had reached the second round, but only six European sides had advanced, and since they had been drawn to play each other, a record low of three European teams would contest the quarter-finals.

He says there is nothing in the performance of the teams of the various confederations which might imply a change in the number of World Cup positions allocated to each of the continents.

The chief executive of the local organising committee, Danny Jordaan, said he is delighted at how the tournament has progressed.

He said security has been first-class, but a breach which saw someone without accreditation passes reach the playing zone was being handled by the courts.

Jordaan denied the switching of stadium security work from private contractors to the police indicated there was any problem with guaranteeing the safety of the players and the public.

He said the decision had been taken not on security grounds but because of uncertainty arising from a labour dispute.

Jordaan would not be drawn on how much extra the use of police for security was adding to the bill for staging the World Cup.

The most immediate security challenge takes place on Sunday local time when thousands of fans will arrive in the smaller venue of Bloemfontein for the clash between England and Germany.

The organisers say they are confident there will be no trouble.

"There will be additional security," Valcke said.

"We will not disclose what, but there will be additional security. Definitely this game is on top of the security [agenda]."

On other issues, Valcke says FIFA will consider complaints about refereeing and the quality of the controversial Jabulani balls used at the tournament when it conducts its standard review at the conclusion of the World Cup.

Valcke say there may also be consideration of whether there needs to be a bigger gap between the end of the major European domestic seasons and the beginning of the next World Cup.

STEEL CURTAIN FOR SOCCER CITY

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

JOHANNESBURG, June 7 - South Africa is to throw a ring of steel around Johannesburg's sparkling new Soccer City stadium to prevent terrorists, hooligans or petty criminals from spoiling Friday's World Cup kick-off.
With around 50 murders a day, South Africa has a reputation as one of the world's most dangerous countries and the build-up to the tournament has been dogged by talk of terror plots and hooligan fears.
Few football fans need reminding the start of the last major tournament on the continent, January's African Cup of Nations in Angola, was overshadowed by a deadly attack on Togo's team bus by separatists.
Around 40 heads of state and a host of VIPs will attend the opening ceremony and inaugural match between the hosts and Mexico at the 95,000-seat stadium.
So with the eyes of the world on South Africa, police are leaving nothing to chance.
Bomb squads, thousands of uniformed, plainclothes and mounted police officers will be patrolling both Soccer City and Cape Town's Green Point arena where France take on Uruguay on Friday night.
While a mischievous South African Airlines pilot flew over the stadium in Johannesburg as a good luck gesture when the Springboks won the 1995 rugby World Cup, stadia have been declared no-fly zones and closed to traffic.
Ever since Israel's Olympians were gunned down at the 1972 Munich Games, an attack by publicity-seeking extremists has been the ultimate nightmare scenario for major sporting events.
A group of far-right militants are currently facing tril over accusations they wanted to blow up black townships ahead of the tournament and Iraqi officials announced the arrest last month of a Saudi man accused of helping to plan an attack during the month-long event.
Dutch authorities meanwhile say they have received intelligence reports of a possible attack but Johan Berger, a security expert at South Africa's Institute for Security Studies, said there was little to suggest games will be targeted.
"An event of this nature presents the potential of being targeted by terrorist groups ... but we have no evidence that indicates the ceremony or the matches will be targeted," he told AFP.
The global policing agency, Interpol has bolstered its office in the country to help share intelligence both on militants and hooligans.
Countries with a history of hooliganism have sent officers to spot troublemakers.
"We have a group of police officials from 27 countries based here: they will work side by side with our police officals outside and insed the stadia," South African police spokeswoman Sally de Beer told AFP.
"They will obviously know their own hooligans and will be able to point them out and prevent them entering the stadium."
Argentina, which has a long record of fan violence, has handed South Africa a list of 800 hooligans. Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa revealed last week that a bid by banned British hooligans to enter via Dubai had been foiled.
The heavy police presence is also intended to deter would-be thieves and pickpockets.
Those who are arrested will be detained in holding cells underneath the stadia before being hauled before special fast-track courts.
Police are also responsible for crowd safety. Johannesburg's Ellis Park stadium, scene of the country's worst football tragedy when 43 people were crushed to death at a derby in 2001, is one of the 10 host venues.
While the police are in charge, the army is on standby if needed and the health service has been mobilised to deal with a possible chemical attack.
No one is saying crime will vanish overnnight but the headline figures mask the fact that the vast majority of violence is confined to shantytowns.
According to Berger, authorities deserve credit for their efforts to tackle South Africa's reputation as a crime hotspot.
Aware that endless headlines about murders or muggings can spoil the party, the government has funded 60,000 additional police in the last seven years.
"The government and police have done their best in terms of what is humanly possible," said Berger.