IOC president praises SA on World Cup success

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has congratulated South Africa on an "outstanding success" as host of the World Cup.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has congratulated South Africa on an "outstanding success" as host of the World Cup.

HT Image

Rogge paid a courtesy call on Saturday on the South African President Jacob Zuma and told him that all of Africa should be proud of how the continent's first World Cup had fared.

In brief comments to the press, the pair did not broach the question of whether the World Cup accomplishments might boost a future Olympic bid by South Africa.

Zuma said he thanked Rogge for the role the IOC played during the apartheid era, excluding South Africa from competition until it finally abandoned white minority rule.