FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke has described the newly-built Cape Town Stadium as “perfect.”
“It’s just an amazing stadium, and all the teams who play in Cape Town, will play in a perfect place.”
Without wanting to be biased regarding other host cities, he said Cape Town is “one of the most beautiful in the country”.
[ad#Google Adsense 125×125 Blog Post]He was visiting the city’s 68 000 seater stadium as part of the FIFA Local Organising Committee “state of readiness” roadshow of 2010 World Cup™ facilities in South Africa on Monday, 1 March 2010.
Valcke addressed 125 national and international journalists, along with Western Cape Premier Helen Zille, Executive Mayor Alderman Dan Plato, and Head of the Local Organising Committee, Dr Danny Jordaan.
Valcke added that the Cape Town Stadium rye grass pitch will be treated as a benchmark for all other new World Cup stadiums.
The visit came one day ahead of the official 100 days until kickoff. Celebratory events were held countrywide.
The City of Cape Town celebrated this milestone with a media event at Signal Hill to launch the official 2010 FIFA World Cup™ coin, which has been specially created in honour of the tournament. Mayor Dan Plato kicked off a soccer ball to mark the occasion.
The City has also urged Capetonians to wear soccer shirts or jerseys in support of this occasion.
Valcke said that South Africa’s preparations for the World Cup™ were largely on track, and the country as a whole is 80% ready to host the tournament.
