Decision on FIFA Confederations Cup venue delayed

JOHANNESBURG, April 30 (Xinhua) -- The 2010 South Africa World Cup organizers have postponed until May 6 an announcement on whether Port Elizabeth will host Confederations Cup fixtures next year, an official said Tuesday.

A decision was expected today amid fears that the southern city has fallen behind a tight stadium construction schedule, but some local organizing committee members were unavailable due to three public holidays this week, the South African Press Associatioin reported.

The FIFA Confederations Cup is a quadrennial eight-nation tournament designed to test the readiness of World Cup hosts and was last staged four years ago in Germany. Construction of the 50,000-seat Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth has been delayed by labor, health and recruitment issues.

An official stressed that even if Port Elizabeth is dropped as a venue for the Confederations Cup from June 14-28, there is no danger of it missing the World Cup deadline.

Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Rustenburg are the other centers for the pre-World Cup 'festival of champions' and they would host additional fixtures should the number of venues be reduced to four.

South Africa, defending champions Brazil, Egypt, Iraq, Italy and the United States have qualified for the Confederations Cup with the other slots to be filled by the Euro 2008 winners and New Zealand or New Caledonia. If World Cup title holders Italy win Euro 2008, the runners-up qualify.