Early indications are that Nelson Mandela Bay will be a host city of some of the 2010 Soccer World Cup games, the national parliamentary portfolio committee on sport said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a media conference in Port Elizabeth, the nine-member committee delegation - accompanied by three officials from the department of sport - said there was also a possibility the municipality could host the opening ceremony of the soccer festival.

The committee, which is inspecting sports facilities in the Eastern Cape and assessing the region's readiness to host World Cup matches, has been in Mandela Bay since Monday. It leaves for East London on Wednesday.

Committee chairman Butana Kompela was effusive in his praise of the municipality for the work it had put into preparing for 2010.

"Excellent work has been done in building sporting facilities in Mandela Bay. The municipality must be commended. It has done immaculate work.

"Initially Fifa said there should be 13 stadiums. This was brought down to 10. We hope that all the nine provinces (will) get a share of the cake, whether it is hosting a practice match or any other complementary role," he said.

On the possibility that the municipality could host the opening ceremony of the soccer festival, Kompela said: "Two municipalities are neck-and-neck in competing for the hosting of the opening ceremony, and these are eThekwini (Durban) and Mandela Bay.

"I do not know who the winner will be, but Mandela Bay is putting up a strong challenge."

It was expected that four games would be played in the Eastern Cape, including a semi-final, and the third- place play-offs.

The final decision on which city will host what game will be taken by the local organising committee in consultation with Fifa, said Kompela. He said South Africa was two years ahead in its preparations for the tournament - "a record" which he said had never been achieved by former host countries.

"The opening ceremony of the tournament will be a provincial function. It is the final which has already been decided . . . (and) will be played at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg. Mandela Bay does come out as very well prepared (for the opening ceremony)," he said.

Bhisho said its commitment and support of Nelson Mandela Bay to host the tournament was "100% guaranteed".

The acting chairman of the Eastern Cape portfolio committee for sport, Phumzile Mnguni, said the provincial government was working on the assumption that there would be no competition between Buffalo City and Mandela Bay. He expected East London to play a complementary role to Port Elizabeth in hosting the event.

"We do not expect Buffalo City to say they expect to host the tournament. We expect them (Buffalo City) to ask what complementary role they can play in making the event a success.

"This is not a provincial event, it is a national one, in fact, an African continent tournament," he said.

Having said that, he warned Mandela Bay not to be selfish and to take everything for granted.

Mnguni would not reveal Bhisho's financial commitment to efforts to host the soccer matches in the region, opting to say elaborate details would be released after the current budgeting and planning taking place at national level.

"However, we will go all the way to motivate that this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is not frustrated by lack of funds," he said.

He said Bhisho was "comfortable" with the site chosen by Mandela Bay for the World Cup soccer stadium.

Happy municipal spokesman Roland Williams said: "What they are all saying is that of all the cities in the bid book, we are in the top three, together with Johannesburg and Durban, to the extent that they are considering giving us the third-place play-offs as well as the opening ceremony, which we did not even ask for."