South African President Thabo Mbeki brushed off suggestions Friday that an electricity crisis could hamper the staging of the 2010 football World Cup, pledging the tournament would be the best ever.
"The current challenges we are facing have led some elsewhere in the world once more to question whether we will be able to host these tournaments (the World Cup and 2009 Confederations Cup) successfully," Mbeki told lawmakers in his annual state of the nation address.
"Of course, I have absolutely no doubt that we will honour our undertaking to FIFA and the world community of soccer players and lovers to create all the necessary conditions for the holding of the best ever FIFA Soccer World Cup tournament."