Indian cricket boosts S Africa confidence for World Cup

Hosting FIFA's Confederations Cup in June and Indian Premier League cricket on short notice gives South African officials confidence the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be staged without major problems.

Hosting FIFA's Confederations Cup in June and Indian Premier League cricket on short notice gives South African officials confidence the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be staged without major problems.

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South Africa's US ambassador Welile Nhlapo said on Monday that past cricket and rugby World Cup successes together with the ongoing cricket matches moved from India for security reasons will allow for greater testing of security measures.

"These events will give us the chance to deal with all sorts of situations, give us time to correct anything that might be needed and provide a secure World Cup," Nhlapo said.

"By the time we host we will be ready."

Exactly 15 years to the day since Nelson Mandela won the first democratic election in South Africa to mark an end to apartheid, Nhalpo said economic woes have not been a setback to South Africa delivering a successful 2010 World Cup.

"These are 15 years of real serious progress," Nhlapo said. "There are some problems we continue to face but we can say confidently that despite the current economy we're doing quite well.