S.Africa rolls out red carpet for FIFA president

Chris Otton

His demands from his lavish hotel suite may have provoked cackles but Sepp Blatter has become a national hero in South Africa for his unstinting support of its hosting of the football World Cup.

While nagging doubts about Africa's ability to stage the world's premier sporting event have persisted ever since the hosting rights were awarded in 2004, President Blatter, as he likes to be called, has been having none of it.

Trust

"Bringing the World Cup to South Africa is to trust South Africa, South Africans, to trust Africa and say you are strong," he said this week.

"Compliments should be given to South Africa and the entire continent."

As a sign of the nation's gratitude, South African President Jacob Zuma recently bestowed the Order of the Companions of OR Tambo on Blatter - the highest honour in the country.

"When Afro-pessimists and others expresed doubts at certain points along the way he consistently expressed his confidence in our ability to succesfully host this event," Zuma said of the Swiss.

Blatter did occasionally let slip concerns about the pace of preparations, at one stage announcing plans to "to fire up the organising committee" as he had "yet to see the pickaxes and spades needed to start the work."

But he always insisted there was never a "Plan B", choosing the carrot over the stick approach when the project ran into trouble.

Speaking during a visit to Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium in 2007 after strikes had left the building behind schedule, Blatter dangled the prospect of bonuses and construction workers were later given free tickets.

"The World Cup is the biggest event in the world of sport and that's normal there are problems ... but all problems have a solution," he said at the time.

In the end, the 70,000-seat beachfront stadium was completed well in time - complete with a rooftop cable car - and will host one of the semi-finals. Blatter has also won fans among Africans by insisting that the local flavour must not be snuffed out, defending for example the use of South Africa's cacophonous vuvuzela trumpets which visiting players say ruins concentration.

Directives

Other FIFA directives however have not gone down so well. Home-made chicken dishes and hot dogs, along with large quantities of beer of questionable quality, are a staple of football matches in South Africa. However, marketing deals with the likes of McDonalds and Budweiser means that the area around the grounds are off limits except for traders with special licences.

FIFA also opened several hundred cases of ambush marketing, aiming to protect its official partners who have spent fortunes to win exclusive rights. With Emirates as its official airline, FIFA demanded that South African budget carrier Kulula withdraw an ad declaring itself "the unofficial national carrier of the you-know-what", with images of a stadium and a footballer.

JOHANNESBURG, Tuesday AFP