All lies says Khoza - but is he protesting too much ?

South Africa's Local World Cup Organising Committee chairman Irvin Khoza on Monday rubbished a front page report in Johannesburg's Sunday Times under the banner headline of "2010 Turmoil" and dismissed it in the strongest terms as a fabrication.

But many at a hastily conducted media conference that coincided with the start of a five-day inspection tour by Fifa delegates of six World Cup venues and other facilities suggested the strong reaction to what was termed in the Sunday Times as "infighting and mistrust that are tearing the 2010 LOC apart" was in essence a damage control exercise.

And one journalist with a penchant for Shakespearian quotes suggested of Khoza's emphatic and emotional denial that "he protests too much, methinks."

Pooh-pooing the allegation that an inherant fued between himself and Danny Jordaan was at the root of the alleged warefare within the local World Cup organisation, Khoza circulated a letter he had sent shortly after the 2010 preliminary draw in Durban congratulating the LOC's Chief Executive warmly for his role in making the event a success.

The letter, however, was written three months ago and the festering furore surrounding Chief Communications and Marketing Officer Tim Modise's pending departure from the LOC only surfaced within the last few weeks.

While refusing to comment on the row between himself and a supposedly highly critical Jordaan, Modise confirmed at the press conference he would be remaining with the LOC - and he continued to be a strong supporter of the 2010 World Cup.

Yet at the same, it is a fact that other officials within the LOC have resigned while claiming a general disarray and incompetence within the organisation.

Khoza said that officials from Fifa president Sepp Blatter downwards were unanimously satisfied with the progress made towards implementing the 2010 World Cup and he appealed to "all South Africans" not to sabotage the effort.

"It is history in the making for South Africans, indeed all Africans," said the LOC chairman, "and undermining the effort can only be condemned in the strongest terms."

Meanwhile, the Inspection group consisting of Fifa and LOC officials began their tour on Monday at Ellis Park - moving on later in the day to Loftus in Pretoria.

Asked why only six of the 10 World Cup venues would be examined, general manager Dennis Mumble said it was a rotating process and the emphasis at the moment was on the venues for next year's Fifa Confederation Cup in South Africa.

Curiously, however, in the circumstances, Port Elizabeth is not on the agenda this time -- after it had been proclaimed to "causing some concern" last time around.

Sapa