Germany’s World Cup stars were warned on Wednesday to expect to wear bullet-proof vests if they venture away from the team hotel at next year’s tournament in South Africa.
The head of Leverkusen-based security firm BaySecur, who look after the the German Soccer Federation (DFB) and their guests when the national team play away from Germany, says their stars like Michael Ballack would have to take extra care in South Africa.
BaySecur is one of the firms expected to be employed by the DFB while the team is involved in the tournament, which runs from June 11 until July 11, when the final will be held at Johannesburg’s Soccer City stadium.
“The possibility for the players of moving outside of the hotel boundaries should be kept to a minimum,” BaySecur’s Guenter Schnelle told German magazine Sport-Bild. “Otherwise there must be a full escort: armed security guards and bullet-proof vests for the players.”
The DFB are already looking to step up security around the team hotel in Pretoria for the World Cup.
Because of high crime rates in the republic, the DFB are taking no risks with security, said their security boss Helmut Spahn, and are looking to recruit 20 extra security guards for the team’s stay at their five-star accommodation.
Private bodyguards will protect the players both within and around the Velmore Grande hotel in the South African province of Gauteng.
■2020 OLYMPICS
AP, NEW YORK
South Africa’s 2010 World Cup organizing committee chief thinks a successful tournament could lead to the Olympics being hosted in Africa for the first time in 2020.
“The IOC [International Olympic Committee] decided to give South America its first Olympics, so the only continent now without an Olympics is the African continent, and therefore I think it’s something that the IOC certainly will have to begin to think about,” South Africa 2010 organizing committee chief executive officer Danny Jordaan told reporters on Wednesday.
Speaking after a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Jordaan said he could envision South African cities Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban bidding along with Egypt for the 2020 Games.
South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup in 1995, soccer’s African Cup of Nations in 1996 and the Cricket World Cup in 2003. Next year’s World Cup is soccer’s first in Africa.
While World Cup stadiums are on schedule, infrastructure concerns remain.
The high-speed train linking Johannesburg with Pretoria won’t be completed in time, with only the section between Sandton and Oliver Tambo Airport outside Johannesburg ready for the tournament.
However, a new airport is scheduled to open in Durban by June and upgrades are being made to Oliver Tambo and Cape Town International Airport.
Jordaan said 1,000 additional buses and 200 more planes will be added to the transportation system, and that police stations with holding cells will be established on the last car of each train.
Jordaan downplayed concerns about crime.
“We have crime in our country, but if you ask, ‘Do we have ability to safeguard everyone coming to the event?’ I must say to you: ‘without doubt,’” Jordaan said.
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