South Africa may escape the global financial crisis, but it could affect foreigners planning to visit South Africa for the 2010 World Cup, according to Horst Schmidt, FIFA’s consultant for the 2010 World Cup. Schmidt told 1,000 delegates at Soccerex on Monday that heavy promotion of the tournament was needed in the coming months to persuade fans to travel to South Africa for the tournament, which will be held from 11 June to 11 July 2010. “There is a concern that people will not come in the numbers we expect from aboard,” said Schmidt, who was the chief organiser of the 2006 World Cup in Germany. “Hopefully, the football people will still travel. It’s important that they join and follow their teams and participate in the event,” he added. Soccerex 2008 is a four-day event organised to provide the global football community with a unique platform to learn, network and do business under one roof in the Guateng province that will host the FIFA 2010 World Cup final.
