World Cup to honour Madiba - Zuma

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Cape Town - South Africans have been urged to make the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup a success in honour of Nelson Mandela.

In his address during the opening of Parliament, President Jacob Zuma said Mandela was central in assisting the country to win the rights to host this great event.

Mandela was part of the delegation that presented South Africa's bid to the FIFA Executive in 2004 and was present on 15 May 2004 when FIFA President, Joseph Blatter, announced that South Africa had won the bid to host the World Cup.

"We therefore have to make the World Cup a huge success in his honour."

With just 119 days to go before the World Cup kicks off, Zuma said everything is on track for a successful event.

"We have spent many years planning for this World Cup ... the infrastructure, security and logistics arrangements are in place to ensure a successful tournament."

The President expressed gratitude to the 2010 Local Organising Committee for their sterling work.

"We wish the LOC Chairperson Irvin Khoza, CEO Danny Jordaan and Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira all the best for the months ahead."

He urged the country to rally behind Bafana Bafana and to buy match tickets.

"Let us all buy tickets timeously to be able to attend the games," he said.

The fourth round of ticket sales has started this week, with over 400 000 tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis.

FIFA said this phase will be one of the last chances for fans to make sure they attend the first World Cup on African soil.

The sale of tickets will run for 58 days and end on 7 April 2010.

Fans can apply for the tickets on http://www.fifa.com/2010 or (for South African residents only) at FNB branches. -