India cricket boosts S. Africa confidence for World Cup

Hosting FIFA's Confederations Cup in June and Indian Premier League cricket on short notice gives South African officials confidence the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be staged without major problems.

South Africa's US ambassador Welile Nhlapo said on Monday that past cricket and rugby World Cup successes together with the ongoing cricket matches moved from India for security reasons will allow for greater testing of security measures.

"These events will give us the chance to deal with all sorts of situations, give us time to correct anything that might be needed and provide a secure World Cup," Nhlapo said. "By the time we host we will be ready."

Exactly 15 years to the day since Nelson Mandela won the first democratic election in South Africa to mark an end to apartheid, Nhalpo said economic woes have not been a setback to South Africa delivering a successful 2010 World Cup.

"These are 15 years of real serious progress," Nhlapo said. "There are some problems we continue to face but we can say confidently that despite the current economy we're doing quite well.

"We're on course to meeting all the requirements FIFA had for us hosting the World Cup and we believe we will be able to deliver a very good World Cup."

South African police have trained at US sites, some with FBI support, to prepare for the World Cup.

"We do have some challenges," Nhlapo said. "There are special police training for the challenges we know we're going to face. We're trying to cover all the areas and needs."

South Africa will spend 5 billion US dollars to help ensure 200,000 police officers on duty for the World Cup, helping safeguard teams as well as visitors.

US interest in 2010 World Cup tickets ranks only behind the United Kingdom, South Africa tourism officials said, just as Americans moved past Germans to become the second-largest group among the land's nine million yearly tourists.

WASHINGTON, AFP