TODAY is exactly one hundred days to the kickoff of the football World Cup in South Africa.
Journalists from The Times have spent the last few days touring stadiums with world cup organisers and there can be no question that this country will be more than ready to host the world’s greatest sporting spectacle come June this year.
If there is concern, it is about the Mbombela Stadium where the playing surface is being re-laid to bring it up to standard.
Said Fifa’s Jerome Valcke yesterday: “After our evaluation of the pitch we – together with other stakeholders like the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the provincial government – took a decision to remove the pitch and install another one.”
Far from suggesting that we will not be ready, this move is evidence that we have enough time on our hands to make an effort to get the pitch just right. If the grass had been planted on the eve of the tournament, we would have had to play games on second-rate pitches.
And the Mbombela stadium is the only one which has experienced these sorts of problems. In Cape Town yesterday, it was clear that that city’s stadium was ready to host a World Cup game right now.
And the same can be said of most of the other venues.
Even in Gauteng where the Ellis Park and Loftus pitches have been churned up during Super 14 rugby performances, all appears to be well on track.
The rising excitement across the nation is palpable and South Africa is about to show the world what Africa is capable of doing.
We are a nation with major social challenges, but we will deliver a great World Cup.

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