They see England and Germany, not necessarily in that order, as their main rivals and are aware they must overcome a possible stumbling block in a rival African bid from Morocco.
Danny Jordaan said the South Africans would be writing to their Moroccan counterparts with a view to discussing the best way forward for Africa, which has never hosted the World Cup.
Irvin Khoza, chairman of South Africa's bid committee, said: "The matter is with the Confederation of African Football (CAF), who accepted both bids. They must decide which to support." Khoza said he did not know when the CAF would make this decision.
He said South Africa had the experience and expertise of holding numerous sporting events including the 1995 Rugby World Cup since the country's return to the international community. "The strength of the bid is that we have the infrastructure," he said, pointing to stadiums, tourism, transport, telecommunications, technology and security.
There are 11 stadiums that already meet requirements and two more in the planning stage. The seating capacity ranges from 43,000 to 110,000. Projected total revenue is being put at $348 million, with $271 million coming from the sale of 2.8 million tickets. Tickets would be sold at comparable, affordable prices to those for the 1998 finals in France. A World Cup in South Africa in 2006 would contribute $2.7 billion to the country's GDP and lead to the creation of 129,000 new jobs, according to a study by a major accounting firm.
Reuters
