South Africa showed interest to host the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup following the original hosts Japan turning down the offer due to the COVID-19 concern in the country.
However, as things stand, South African Football Association (SAFA) president Danny Jordaan says South Africa’s bid to host the FIFA Club World Cup in December faces difficulties.
Jordaan told Soccer Laduma: “The meeting has been postponed to Monday. I think the issues are clear; it’s Covid because we are red-listed by the UK government, which means no one can really travel from there to South Africa.”
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“Another issue is the low vaccinations rate and the fact that we still don’t have spectators in the stadium – FIFA have said ‘go and solve this problem and then come talk to us’, so that is a big issue in our way,” added Jordaan.
“They are not sporting issues; there’s nothing we can do (government makes the decision). The tournament is in December, and that is why we have to meet with the government to understand the timelines.
“What is encouraging is that they’ve said we are at the end of the third wave. Football in Africa, under Covid conditions, is quite different to Europe – they are almost back to normal.
“We want to use the Ethiopia match as a test case and see the response.”
Chelsea is the current FIFA Clubs Champions. They will be joined by other continental champions including Al Ahly in Africa to compete for the club’s biggest accolade in football.
