Polokwane in Afcon row

POLOKWANE'S plan to host Africa's biggest soccer event , the African Cup of Nations 2013 games, has collapsed after the city council refused to pay for services procured by the South African Football Association

Mayor Freddy Greaver told a council meeting on Thursday that Limpopo's Peter Mokaba Stadium could not afford to participate in the tournament because the terms of Safa's contract were not favourable to the city.

He said Safa just went through the motions and called the municipality to present its bid in the absence of the football body's key decision makers.

Greaver said they were not satisfied that Safa would centralise procurement of service and in the end it would be the municipality footing the bill.

In this way, Greaver believed, Safa wanted to use the municipality to sponsor their events and leave the municipality with the bill.

Peter Mokaba Stadium has hosted the 2010 Fifa World Cup opening games, and continue to host local Premier Soccer League clubs.

South Africa was given the opportunity to host the 2013 event after the approved Libya was marred by civil unrest that saw the country's dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, killed.

Greaver said the municipality wanted to give priority to its core function of service delivery and the tournament would be watched on television.

"Safa does not seem to have a sponsor," he said.

Also bidding are Cape Town, Rustenburg, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Johannesburg and Nelspruit.

The council had heard that the city of Polokwane was also planning to outsource the running and maintenance of Peter Mokaba Stadium.

Safa spokesman Dominic Chimhavhi was quoted as saying the winning cities would be announced on Wednesday.