African nations await World Cup verdict

FIFA’s ruling elite were today preparing to take an historic decision and award the 2010 World Cup to an African country for the first time.

South Africa and Morocco are the chief rivals, with Egypt and Libya also bidding for the tournament, and the vote in Zurich at 11am (Irish time) promises to be a nerve-racking affair.

Presentations to FIFA’s executive committee yesterday ended with Morocco having gained some ground on South Africa following Tunisia’s decision to pull out of the running and back their fellow Arab state.

South Africa’s bid still remains the most likely to succeed, and their bid leader Danny Jordaan believes their experience in staging the cricket and rugby world cups within the last decade should be a deciding factor.

He said: “If you look at event management expertise, no other country can compete with South Africa. We also have the number one ranking in the FIFA technical report.

“We have successfully staged 11 major events over the past decade, all of them safe and secure.”

Morocco have hired Alan Rothenberg, the man who headed the 1994 World Cup in the USA and the 2006 FIFA inspection team, as a consultant and have spent hugely on their campaign.

Rothenberg is confident of victory, saying: “I honestly believe we can get the 13 votes we need and we could even get up to 15.”

Both South Africa and Morocco have tried to shake off negative aspects of the bid. Morocco have been emphasising their low crime rate – in contrast to South Africa’s notoriously high one – but have had to deal with worries about terrorism following the involvement of Moroccan nationals in the Madrid bombings and attacks in Casablanca.

Morocco’s bid president Saad Kettani said in their presentation: “It will be an extraordinary celebration, a World Cup without risks. Morocco does not joke with security.”

Both countries assembled teams of famous faces to back their claims to stage 2010. South Africa’s line-up was more impressive with Nelson Mandela, fellow Nobel peace prize winners Archbishop Desmond Tutu and F. W. de Klerk in Zurich along with current president Thabo Mbeki.

Morocco had Spain’s former Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez and Senegal president Abdoulaye Wade plus statements of support from Real Madrid stars Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo.

Whoever wins, FIFA will aim to take the credit for awarding the world’s biggest sporting event to the world’s poorest continent. Under their new rotation system, 2010 was always going to Africa and the World Cup will be staged in South America in 2014.

Britain’s FIFA vice-president David Will will vote for South Africa.

He said: “I believe South Africa have the best bid but Morocco have gained ground considerably in recent months.”