World Football - FIFA Concerned About Stadium Legacy; Blatter Welcomes North Korea's World Cup Qualification

Sepp Blatter is hopeful the World Cup venues will be used for events other than football after the 2010 competition. (Getty Images)FIFA Concerned About ‘White Elephant’ Stadium Legacy

(ATR) FIFA wants organizers of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to take a more proactive approach to stadia legacy plans to ensure there are no white elephants after the tournament.

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said the issue has already been discussed with the local organizers and that football’s global governing body needs to continue working with them to deliver the desired legacy.

Speaking to journalists in Johannesburg Monday, he said 2010 organizers should ensure the “infrastructure and all that will be built for the World Cup will not become the white elephants and we will not see again what's happening sometimes at Olympic cities.”

Valcke said regional football chiefs will play a key role in achieving such a result.

“We have to work together and with the African Confederation of Football to make sure that the stadiums will be used in the future. This is a discussion we had yesterday,” he said.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter expressed confidence World Cup venues will be used for events other than football after the tournament.

“These modern stadiums are also multifunctional. You can do something else, not only football or rugby,” he told reporters.

“You can also have exhibitions, concerts, etc. It’s a question of organization. And you have to use these for that. If you put in so much money only for a football stadium, only the very rich people, they can afford it. Where are these rich people now?”

Work is continuing on a 90,000-seater stadium in Durban and another 68,000-seater in Cape Town, which will stage the semifinals and some group stage matches.

The July 11 final of the 2010 World Cup will take place at another new venue, the 94,000-seat Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg.

Blatter Pleased with N. Korea’s 2010 Qualification

The FIFA chief has welcomed North Korea’s qualification to the 2010 tournament in South Africa, the first time the country has made it to the World Cup finals since 1966.

“I think to have the Democratic Republic of Korea at the World Cup is a confirmation that the development of football will not stop, and North Korea has always had good North Korean players throw their coach Kim Jong Hun in the air as they celebrate qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. (Getty Images) footballers,” Blatter told reporters.

“In the past they have been in FIFA's women's competitions, they have had great players in the women's Under-17 and Under-20 teams.”

North Korea earned its place at the World Cup after drawing 0-0 with Saudi Arabia in Riyadh last week. It’s the fourth team so far to reach the event through the Asian qualification path, after South Korea, Australia and Japan.

In its last World Cup appearance, North Korea managed a legendary one-nil win over Italy in the group stage to progress to a 5-3 quarter final defeat by Portugal.

“Whether we can make a draw and bring them together with Italy again, we'll have to wait and see whether Italy qualify,” Blatter joked.

Obama Accepts World Cup Invitation

U.S. President Barack Obama has told Blatter that he’ll being making the trip to South Africa next year for the first World Cup on the African continent, if his schedule allows it.

“The World Cup in Africa will go well, there is no doubt. And the man who said, ‘Yes we can do it’ will be there.

President Obama has accepted an invitation to the opening ceremony,” Blatter told reporters Monday.

“Of course the schedule of heads of state can change, but he has said he will be there if he can.”

Next year’s FIFA World Cup begins on June 11.

FIFA Pays Respects To Cameroon Star

Cameroon's football team hold a picture of midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe at the end of their Confederations Cup final match against France in June 2003. (Getty Images)Organizers of the Confederations Cup in South Africa will hold a ceremony before the final on June 28 to honor the late Cameroon midfielder, Marc-Vivien Foe.

Foe collapsed and died in the 2003 semifinals against Colombia and, after his death, was found to have a heart condition.

Blatter says Foe’s death resulted in new safety measures being implemented for international matches, requiring either doctors on the bench or team staff to be trained to use defibrillators.

“What is important is that since this case, football has learned about the problem of cardiological disease,” Blatter told journalists.

“It’s impossible to control the millions and millions of football players. But in FIFA's competitions, not only at the highest level, we are.”

Written by Anthony Stavrinos

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