The man in charge of organising the 2010 World Cup says the biggest international event ever to be staged in South Africa must be a world class affair, showcasing his country and the African continent at large.

One year after South Africa burst into celebration after winning the bid to stage the football world cup, former anti-apartheid activist and lawmaker Danny Jordaan is heading an organising committee seeking to pull off a major financial and sports success with the event.

"It must be better" than the other World Cups, Jordaan told AFP in an interview in Soweto's FNB stadium where the South African football association is headquartered and where some of the matches will be held.

"It must be African and world class," he said.

The 2010 World Cup will mark the first time that world's most-watched tournament will be held on African soil and the biggest international event ever staged in South Africa.

Some 160 000 direct jobs are expected to be created from hosting the World Cup, according to the organising committee, and construction companies are expected to cash in with at least three more stadiums to be built and five others to be upgraded.

Work on an express train dubbed the Gautrain, linking Johannesburg, Pretoria and Johannesburg International Airport is also due to begin this year with a view to having it fully operational for 2010.

Preparations going well

The organisation of the World Cup 2010 is also expected to provide a boost to South Africa's bid to stage the Rugby World Cup in 2011.

Jordaan said preparations were not only on track for hosting the World Cup but "in fact, we are ahead."

Parliament is due to adopt two laws in December on financing the World Cup. Legal experts from the world football governing body Fifa arrived in Johannesburg on Thursday to help with that effort.

Jordaan said that Fifa president Sepp Blatter told organisers during a visit here in January that the 2010 World Cup stood a chance of being more financially successful than the 2006 event in Germany.

"We want to succeed as a nation. We want to be seen as a winning nation," said Jordaan, adding that the 2010 World Cup was "part of the psyche."

South Africa, which had lost its bid for the 2006 event to Germany, came back to fight for the 2010 World Cup with greater determination, calling on former president Nelson Mandela to help in the final lobbying effort.

Jordaan said South Africa is working to share the benefits - and the preparation work - for the event with the rest of the continent to show that Africa should not be shunned to the sidelines of key international events.

Source: News24.com

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