“This is a great day for us and we will make sure that we deliver on what we have agreed upon with FIFA,” September said, adding that Telkom is currently upgrading and increasing the sophistication of its technology and network capabilities to ensure adequate delivery.
“On behalf of the government, I just want to say that we are very pleased that Telkom has come on board to support us in this marvellous project. This demonstrates the government's commitment in making this event a memorable World Cup for all to remember,” Essop Goolam Pahad, minister in the Presidency, said.
Meanwhile, following engagement and consultations with FIFA and relevant parties, Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairperson Dr Irvin Khoza said yesterday said that the host city names such as Nelson Mandela Municipality, Mangaung and Tshwane will be used within South Africa, while outside of the country – for marketing purposes – a double-barrel name should be used, even on printed tickets, to avoid confusion among visitors.
The decision means that these names will look as follows: Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (Port Elizabeth), Mangaung (Bloemfontein) and Tshwane (Pretoria). “We are satisfied that these names have been through various consultations so there will no objection or any legal process whatsoever for their use,” Dr Khoza said.
“Only Nelspruit (Mbombela) is still under discussions and consultations, so the decision to use the changed name is still pending,” he said.
Furthermore, Dr Khoza said that the preliminary draw, to be held in Durban on 25 November 2007, will be the first major event related to the 2010 World Cup.
Apart from the logo of the 2009 Confederation Cup that has already been approved, LOC has also announced the appointment of Wisdom Keys Group as the event management company for the project, on recommendation of FIFA.
“We still have to decide on the name of the World Cup mascot, and we will issue a statement once we have come up with the decision,” LOC CEO Danny Jordan said.
Asked to comment on the state of preparations, FIFA's Valcke said: “Apart from Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, the rest is more or less on track. However, we will try to get those in charge of Cape Town and PE to push a bit to catch up with the slight delays. But overall, everything is fine.”
