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Next year’s football World Cup will have a major impact in building racial harmony and stimulating future economic growth in South Africa, according to organizing committee chief Danny Jordaan.

At a recent press conference, Jordaan dismissed concerns over transport, accommodation and crime during the World Cup.

He said June’s Confederations Cup, viewed as a rehearsal for 2010, had seen whites and blacks, rich and poor, mixing and sitting together at matches.

"It is an experience that many people never had in this country. All of those things convey the kind of images and the mood we want the world to see of a country of both black and white celebrating football," he affirmed.

If the same atmosphere prevailed during the much bigger World Cup next June and July then Jordann felt that South Africa "will have taken a significant step forward to create that non-racial country that (Nelson) Mandela was dreaming of."

He also said that the success of the Confederations Cup had changed the atmosphere ahead of 2010 from doubt and questioning to anticipation and excitement. "The doubting Thomases are now believing Thomases," he asserted.

Asked about crime, a serious concern because in South Africa, Jordaan said visiting fans would be in the same situation as the 9.5 million tourists visiting South Africa annually, almost all without problems. Security around the event, when the fans, teams and tourists would be in known locations, which police could monitor, was completely different to random general crime.

Source: Goal.com