Pretoria - Football body FIFA and the South African music industry seem to have ironed out their differences over the inclusion of local artists in a pre-World Cup concert to be held in Soweto on 10 June.
Several local artists were up in arms over what they call an overseas dominated line-up in the concert organised by FIFA.
The concert, a day ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony, will feature international stars such as Alicia Keys, Ang,lique Kidjo, Black Eyed Peas, BLK JKS, John Legend, Juanes and Shakira.
But, after a meeting on Tuesday between Arts and Culture Minister Lulu Xingwana and the organising committee board headed by Danny Jordaan, the parties agreed on the inclusion of additional South African artists in the line-up for the concert.
Arts and Culture spokesperson Lisa Combrinck confirmed to BuaNews on Wednesday that FIFA was part of the agreement to include more local artists in the list of performers.
She said a representative of FIFA was flown in from Zurich to sit in the meeting, also attended by the South African Music Promoters Association (SAMPA) and the Communication Workers Union of SA.
Part of the agreement is that SAMPA would work together with the Los Angeles-based Control Room, a company that is staging the concert, to satisfy local concerns. SAMPA would have a line of communication with Control Room.
No names of local artists to be included will be publicly announced until contracts are signed with the artists. But rock band, the Parlotones and Vusi Mahlasela, are among those that were initially confirmed and will perform.
Both Xingwana and Jordaan werequoted as expressing their satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting.
"We've always maintained that the incredibly talented South African and African music industry will play a major part in the tournament's off-field success and character.
"So, we are certainly very supportive of South African artists using the tournament's considerable platform to showcase their talents and we will continue to constructively engage with CWUSA in this regard," said Dr Danny Jordaan.
