Franz Beckenbauer, chairman of the organising committee for the 2006 World Cup finals, has cast doubt on Africa’s ability to host the 2010 finals.
“Europe cannot wait 24 years to host the World Cup,” Beckenbauer, a World Cup winner as a player and a coach, told AFP.
“UEFA made a big mistake to accept this rotation in my opinion. Europe is the biggest market, the World Cup without Europe is not a World Cup,” he said.
The 2010 event is due to be held in Africa, where Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Libya and South Africa are all bidding to host the event.
“I have a different opinion about the rotation,” said the Bayern Munich president.
“The big question is, can one African country organise the World Cup? We are talking about 32 countries, to have more than one million foreigners coming, can you solve this problem?
“Which country can manage this? Maybe one, South Africa can, maybe Morocco because it’s bidding for the fourth time. Egypt, I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s a wise idea to give it to Africa,” he said.
