Khoza dismisses infighting reports
At a press conference after the FIFA/2010 Organising Committee (OC) Ellis Park inspection tour yesterday, Monday 18 February 2008, OC chairman Dr Irvin Khoza dismissed recent media reports that there was tension between himself and OC CEO Danny Jordaan which were threatening to derail the World Cup project.
“Danny Jordaan and myself made a commitment that South Africa's bids for the 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cup is not about Danny Jordaan or Irvin Khoza; it's about the country and the continent. For us what's important is the project, it's not about ourselves. There is a lot of despondency and hopeless in our country,” said Khoza.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup is one project which gives hope to all of us. Let us not destroy it. We [the OC and World Cup host cities] have come a long way. Everybody's convinced we're doing a good job. We are only 18 months away now [from the Confederations Cup] and we're happy with what we've achieved, which is there for the whole country to see.”
He also said that the OC's chief officer of communications and marketing, Tim Modise, would continue to be part of the OC team.
“This 2010 project is a very very important project, for myself and all South Africans. As a South African I always supported the World Cup in South Africa and I will continue to support this World Cup,” Modise said.
Jordaan also reiterated the organisation's support for Modise: “There have been a number of negative, untruths said about Tim Modise recently. The truth is that Tim has my full support and in my view is one of the best and most respected individuals in the country to engage with the public and media on the 2010 project. The OC continue to hold Tim in high regard. He was a big part of the success of the Preliminary Draw and he has our full support. We hope that he will continue to make an invaluable contribution to this project.”
