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Hotel for Serbia 'no dump'

THE 32 teams that have qualified for the Fifa World Cup in June are busy with preparations and setting up base before the big event but it seems some of them are not entirely happy with the state of hotels given to them.

THE 32 teams that have qualified for the Fifa World Cup in June are busy with preparations and setting up base before the big event but it seems some of them are not entirely happy with the state of hotels given to them.

The Serbian national team was recently reported to be unhappy with The Lakes Hotel in Benoni and Snezana Malusevic, who has been tasked with finding the team accommodation, described the three-star hotel as a "decrepit dump", something the hotel management has strongly denied.

African Sun group communications manager Farayi Mangwende said there was no basis to Malusevic's claim. African Sun owns the hotel.

"Neither the travel agent who made the statement or anyone from that agency has visited the hotel and therefore there is no foundation on which to comment. The Lakes was assessed by Fifa and found to be suitable for hosting a Fifa World Cup 2010 qualifying team."

Mangwende said they were not worried that Malusevic's statements would damage their reputation. "The Lakes is a three-star hotel with an enviable reputation. We have solid base of repeat conferencing and business guests," Mangwende said.

Local Organising Committee communications manager Rich Mkhondo said he was not aware of any complaints regarding accommodation.

"As expected, hotels differ in their grading standards and the hotels on the list for selection ranges from a three- to a five-star grading.

Serbia has informed Fifa and the LOC about their choice of hotel and also included a list of areas they would like to be improved.

"This is standard practice for all the teams," Mkhondo said.

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