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BLATTER DISMISSES SOUTH AFRICA CONCERNS AND WADA CRITICISM

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has given his backing to South Africa’s preparations for the 2010 World Cup and dismissed concerns over public transport.

Local media have raised concerns over whether organisers can complete an upgrade of the transport system in time to cope with hundreds of thousands of World Cup visitors.

There are fears about delays in building the R20billion Gautrain project - a high-speed train linking Pretoria and Johannesburg.

Blatter said FIFA was not concerned about South Africa’s preparations and believed that the organising committee would solve any problems that may arise.

It will be the first time that an African country has hosted a World Cup.

Meanwhile, FIFA has rejected criticism levelled at the governing body by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and its president, Richard Pound.

It says that, during the 117th Session of the IOC in Singapore in July, Pound officially declared that all 35 Olympic sports federations met the requirements of the World Anti-Doping Code.

FIFA disagrees with WADA over automatic two-year bans for first-time doping offenders, referring the dispute to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Soccer's governing body said the ban would pose a problem because "it could be reduced only under very limited circumstances and it does not take into account the extent of the offender's guilt."

But WADA president Richard Pound said he learned with "considerable disappointment'' that the matter was submitted to CAS.

FIFA has "done everything in its power to amend its disciplinary code and statutes so as to comply with the World Anti-Doping Code,'' Blatter said.