FIFA president Sepp Blatter says South Africa still faces challenges around transport and hotel accommodation for its hosting of the 2010 World Cup finals.
Blatter said he told South African President Thabo Mbeki in a meeting in Cape Town on Tuesday that while stadium construction was well underway, the country now had to turn its attention to ensuring enough facilities for thousands of visitors during the tournament.
"We have seen progress in the building of the stadiums but the system of transport definitely has to be looked at. There will be a lot of visitors and there is a great need from companies to help with extra capacity for airplanes, buses and local transport," Blatter told reporters after the meeting.
South African organisers expect at least 350,000 visitors for the tournament, considerably down on the initial estimates of some 900,000 when they first bid for the tournament. A total of 55,000 hotel nights are to be secured for the tournament, according to the South Africa 2010 Local Organising Committee. Blatter also made a brief reference to the high crime rate in South Africa, saying that the World Cup had heightened reports.
"All major cities in the world grapple with problems of criminality but those in South Africa are getting more publicity than they deserve because of the World Cup," he said.
The FIFA president was in South Africa for a brief two-day visit, during which time he met with local organisers in Johannesburg on Monday and toured the site of Cape Town's new stadium on Tuesday. On Monday he reaffirmed his previous, often-repeated stance that "only an act of God" would see the tournament taken away from South Africa.