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'A long time away' Too early to judge S. Africa's World Cup bid, says FIFA
LONDON (AP) -- The Ellis Park stadium tragedy could be a major blow to South Africa's bid to stage the 2010 World Cup although FIFA stressed Thursday it was far too early to say. With FIFA set to bring in a system of rotating the confederations and Africa apparently first on the list, South Africa would have been the leading candidate, especially after going so close for the 2006 event and just losing out by one vote to Germany. But whatever caused the tragedy at Ellis Park at the Kaizer Chiefs-Orlando Pirates game Wednesday will be viewed as a negative factor. Unless it leads to major improvements in safety. "I don't think we should rush to condemn South Africa just because it's South Africa," FIFA director of communications, Keith Cooper said the day after the tragedy. "FIFA made the decision that the World Cup would first go to the continent of Africa -- not necessarily South Africa -- but we are along way away from deciding this. "This is a tragedy of considerable proportions, four dozen people have been killed and it's being taken extremely seriously. But as far as 2010 is concerned it is still a long time away," Cooper said. "There are lessons to be learned and hopefully we can put it right, just as was the case in England after the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy. "Clearly it could not have come at a worse time, but these things never come at a good time and unfortunately they happen in many countries," Cooper said. "We've got to be careful. We have no official information of the incident, but obviously something very bad went wrong." Lucas Radebe, South Africa's soccer captain who plays for Leeds United in England, witnessed a previous stadium tragedy when the same two teams met and 25 people died that day. But he believes that the latest tragedy could spark the nation into making sure it never happens again. "Things like this do happen and you do learn from them, especially in a country which always tries to get better," the 32-year-old defender said. "Things will improve. "This highlights some of the problems and hopefully things like this will never happen now. It is when these things happen that you must ask the questions." Mark Fish, a teammate on the South African team who also plays in England for Charlton Athletic, admitted that the tragedy might hamper South Africa's bid to stage the 2010 World Cup. "South Africa was close to hosting the 2006 World Cup and is hoping to get it in 2010," said the central defender, who used to play for Orlando Pirates. "This could be a dent for 2010. A lot of people will blame each other. "But the people and families who are involved, those are the people we should be thinking about now. "I would like to say that my heart goes out to the families of those killed and injured in this horrific incident which has shocked me and all of the South African players abroad," Fish said. "This match is bigger than Manchester United vs. Liverpool. People would travel 300-400 miles for the game hoping to get tickets on the day. "It's a very well constructed stadium and I fail to believe that something like this could happen at this stadium." Radebe also said it was a tragedy that a sports event should lead to such a loss of life. "When people lose lives like that at a football game it is really, really sad," the Leeds defender said. "What happened was absolutely a disaster for all the families of all those people who died -- a tragedy. "I spoke to a couple of players and they could not believe what was happening. "When Kaizer play Orlando Pirates, there is more than 100,000 people who want to come to watch the games," Radebe said. "Football has grown since we were re-admitted to international football, and when games like this come up everybody wants to go. "Everything has to be perfect. Things like this have been avoided at all costs."
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