Blatter: Sa Needs More Self-promotion

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has urged South Africa to market itself more enthusiastically as the host of next year’s Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup.

Commented Blatter: ‘What I’m missing a little bit here is the identification that next year is already the Confederations Cup.

‘I’m missing the feeling of the World Cup. There needs to be more marketing of the event. Africa needs to tell the world it’s ready to host the event.’
 
Blatter called for greater advertising and publicity campaigns around the tournament and said he had raised the issue with local organisers.

During his trip Blatter visited stadiums and met with President Thabo Mbeki, former President Nelson Mandela, and African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma.

FIFA also announced that the workers involved in the constructions of the ten 2010 FIFA World Cup stadiums will be given two free match tickets each. There are well over 20,000 workers currently on site at the country’s ten 2010 FIFA World Cup stadiums.

The tickets for the construction workers will be allocated as part of the 2010 FIFA World Cup ticketing fund through which FIFA, the Local Organising Committee and the six FIFA Partners adidas, Coca-Cola, Emirates, Hyundai, Sony and VISA will distribute free of charge 120,000 tickets to deserving South Africans who have contributed to the success of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and who could otherwise not afford to be part of this historic event.