Ramatsiyi Moholoa

Ramatsiyi Moholoa

Board members of the 2010 Local Organising Committee are in Zurich, Switzerland, at the invitation of the world soccer governing body.

"Fifa president [Sepp Blatter] has invited us to be part of the congress and also the official opening of the new Fifa House," said Irvin Khoza, LOC chairman.

"We are honoured, as the board, to be part of this historic occasion. It is a further indication that Fifa has confidence in South Africa's ability to host a successful World Cup.

"It will also give us the opportunity to brief Fifa about the 2010 World Cup developments."

The board members include Danny Jordaan, Molefi Oliphant, ministers Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Jeff Radebe, Jabu Moleketi and Sydney Mufamadi.

The 57th Fifa congress runs from today until tomorrow. Issues to be dealt with include all the Fifa competitions - both for juniors and seniors.

In addition, South Africa's preparations for the 2010 World Cup will also be thoroughly debated by the member countries.

Urs Linsi, Fifa general secretary, is expected to tell the Fifa family that South Africa is well on track to deliver a successful World Cup. Linsi said during a visit to South Africa last month that he was impressed by the building of new and the upgrading of existing stadiums, saying they were on track.

This was after Linsi and his delegation saw the machines buzzing away at Soccer City, which will host the opening and final matches

Meanwhile, the South African Under-14 national team, coached by Solly Luvhengo and Dan Malesela, is in Zurich as part of the Fifa celebrations.