FIFA President Gianni Infantino (right) stands next to President of the South African Football Association Danny Jordaan. (Photo by John Wessels / AFP)
South African Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan held ‘encouraging’ talks with Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, and secretary general, Fatma Samoura, over a bid to host Club World Cup in December.
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Safa president Danny Jordaan travelled to Nigeria last week to discuss possible hosting plans with Infantino and Samoura.
Safa’s head of communications, Dominic Chimhavi, has described the Club World Cup talks as ‘encouraging’.
“The talks were very, very encouraging,” Chimhavi told BBC Sport Africa.
“The president had a chat with the Fifa hierarchy, which includes the president and the secretary general, and with Confederation of African Football president Patrice Motsepe.
“We have written an official letter to Fifa to ask them about the terms of reference with regards to what is needed for South Africa to host the [Club] World Cup. So everything is all systems go as far as we are concerned.”
With South Africa still in the British government’s red list because of the high coronavirus infections, there are fears that Uefa Champions League winners could decide against coming to South Africa.
“Our numbers are declining and our vaccination drive is one of the most impressive on the continent,” said Chimhavi.
“In the coming months you might discover that South Africa is one of the safest places to visit because we have an aggressive campaign to make sure that each and every one is vaccinated. We take this Covid-19 issue seriously.”
“Since we raised our hands in regards to this issue, we have been working closely and constantly with the Minister of Sport. We have been working constantly with the Minister of Health with regards to making sure that everything – concerning Covid regulations – is above board,” concluded the Safa spokesperson.
South Africa expressed interest in staging the tournament after Japan withdrew as hosts earlier this month citing concerns over coronavirus.
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