Port Elizabeth could host as many as eight games in the 2010 World Cup, including a quarter-final and the play-off for third place.

And Fifa local organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan told a property investors‘ conference the city could also be the venue for Concaf Cup matches in June 2009 if the new R750 000 stadium and other facilities were in place by the end of 2008.

“It is therefore very important to have it done by December 2008,” he said, adding that the progress in Port Elizabeth to date had been “very, very good”.

He said there were a number of challenges facing Port Elizabeth in the accommodation arena if the city was to be the venue for matches beyond the group stage, pointing out that in Germany this year every city had the ability to accommodate all the people who wanted to attend games or be at fan parks.

Jordaan said some 29 000 beds would be required for spectators attending the games in Port Elizabeth – there are currently about 11 500 – and the local committee was already exploring the accommodation opportunities in other towns from where people could travel.

He said construction of the stadium, on the banks of the North End Lake, would begin this year and would end in 2008. All the stadiums would be handed over to Fifa at the end of the following year. The size of the stadium and the availability of accommodation would be the deciding factor as to which teams would be allocated to Port Elizabeth.

Tens of thousands of supporters accompanied countries such as England and Brazil, while teams from the Caribbean, for example, were followed by far fewer.

Jordaan said the questions that would have to be answered were where would 40 000 fans needing beds be accommodated, and how would they get to the grounds. There were also issues such as water and electricity even though these did not affect the stadium, where a backup power supply was required.

Jordaan said other questions that needed to be answered centred on the construction industry – its capacity and the availability of skilled personnel.

He said there was a need to ensure that construction took place timeously. “We have to meet the deadlines. The world will be intolerant of excuses.”

Port Elizabeth had been allocated R86-million for the stadium‘s interim planning phase, of which it had received R22-million. The Development Bank of Southern Africa was holding the funds and would pay once invoices were submitted, Jordaan said.

A local committee would be established in Port Elizabeth, he said, on which sport, government, business and labour would be represented.