Tuesday’s 6.3 magnitude tremor has devastated Christchurch, leaving at least 75 people dead and hundreds missing. The city on New Zealand’s east coast is slated to host seven matches during the Rugby World Cup from September 9 to October 23, including two quarter-finals.
“It is too early to talk in any detail about implications for the tournament in Christchurch and any assessment by us must wait while the rescue efforts take priority,” said Snedden. “The next step will involve our organisation leading a thorough process of assessing the city’s ability to host the seven Rugby World Cup 2011 matches scheduled to take place there. This will involve an assessment of all the key infrastructure of the city including the stadium, hotels, training facilities and the transport network.”
Early reports have suggested AMI Stadium in Christchurch could be out of action for up to five months, but Snedden added: “We are hopeful a clearer picture will emerge in the coming days to allow us to make the right decisions. There has been speculation that this tragedy puts the entire event in jeopardy or that matches will relocate to Australia. That is not the case. Rest assured, Rugby World Cup 2011 will proceed and all matches will take place in New Zealand.”
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key hopes Christchurch will be able to host matches at the competition, and added: “If we could host the Rugby World Cup as we're intending to in Christchurch, I'd like to do that. It's some way into the future. It's a very important city to New Zealand and it would be a demonstration that Christchurch is back up on its feet.”
However, Key added: “One of the issues may be accommodation. We know there's been substantial damage to hotels, so again that's something the Rugby World Cup Minister will be looking at.”
