Oct 18, 2006, 15:57 GMT
Johannesburg - The chairman of the organizing committee for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa believes the doubts being expressed about his country's ability to host the event is down to worries about Africa, the Sapa newsagency reported Wednesday.
Local Organizing Committee (LOC) chairman Ivin Khoza told a media briefing in Johannesburg ahead of a workshop with FIFA officials that doubts about Africa's ability to 'do things right' were behind the scepticism.
'It is our paramount challenge to prove the sceptics and detractors wrong,' said Khoza, adding that everything was on track for the tournament.
The comments come as the South African finance minister Trevor Manuel is expected to announce next week that the expected World Cup budget has increased to over 12 billion rand (1.6 billion dollars).
FIFA president Joseph Blatter said last month he intended to visit South Africa soon to urge lawmakers to speed up building work but Khoza said everything is on schedule.
'Work on the five new World Cup stadiums is scheduled to start at the beginning of next year and the time tables for completion are well within the time periods required by FIFA,' he said.
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