Abby Brammell

By Matt Barlow in Sun City, South Africa

Ponder: England manger Fabio Capello arrives in Sun City, South Africa to inspect facilities


Fabio Capello will resist pressure from FIFA to commit England to their unfinished World Cup training base.

FIFA set a deadline of 11am Tuesday morning for all 32 World Cup finalists to confirm their chosen headquarters but England are among several countries who are stalling.

Capello inspected the Royal Bafokeng Sports Campus on Monday, accompanied by a high-powered delegation from FIFA and the World Cup’s host nation.

The England manager was said to be ‘satisfied’ with what he saw at the newly built complex, even though parts of it still resemble a construction site, with work to be completed on the medical centre, the changing rooms and half of the 72 hotel rooms.

He was also encouraged by an improvement in the state of the two pitches on the campus which he criticised on his last visit in December — although he stopped short of giving the high-altitude training centre his official seal of approval and the FA have yet to sign a contract.

Staff at the Royal Bafokeng said they expected Capello and his assistant Franco Baldini to stay at their hotel for two nights during a FIFA workshop for the World Cup coaches, but on Monday the pair checked into the Sun City Hotel.

Niall Carroll, the chief executive of Royal Bafokeng Holdings, said: ‘We are confident that the Bafokeng Sports Campus will be ready and thoroughly tested in time for the World Cup.

‘Construction remains on schedule and the primary pitches will be comparable to that of the Bafokeng Sports Palace, rated as one of the best in the country.

‘We continue to work closely with the FA and FIFA and remain confident the campus will meet the highest standards in every area.’

Capello arrived in South Africa on Monday morning and went straight to the Royal Bafokeng to check out the facilities in the company of FIFA’s general secretary Jerome Valcke, president of the South African FA Kirsten Nematandani, president of the Confederation of African Football Issa Hayatou and Danny Jordaan, the chief executive of the World Cup organising committee.


Progress: Bafokeng Sports Campus as seen in September 2009


‘The place is finished,’ said Jordaan afterwards, a bizarre statement to make to reporters who had visited the site less than 24 hours earlier and seen just how much work there was still to be done.

‘I can take you there now and walk you through room by room and show you,’ Jordaan added, stressing that the complex is being built in three phases, only the first of which needs to be completed for England’s visit.

‘It’s unfair to say anything else. All England need is a hotel and two training pitches and they have that. England are not concerned about phases two or three because that will finish in 2013.’


Strop: England will be far from happy if their complex isn't ready

Other teams have similar concerns about unfinished bases and hotels, and the coaches will discuss the situation when their workshop starts in Sun City on Tueday.

The South Africa team confirmed this week that they were moving their camp from Esselen Park School near Johannesburg to Sandown High School, 25 miles away in Sandton, admitting the switch was ‘an embarrassment’.

Argentina have reported problems at their preferred venue — the high performance sports centre at the University of Pretoria — but, somewhat inevitably, one nation which seems to have chosen well is Germany.

They will be based at Pretoria’s Velmore Hotel, a five-star luxury spa which opened in November.


source: dailymail