Danny Jordaan

Nelson Mandela was reunited with the World Cup trophy on Thursday, six years after he was famously pictured with soccer's greatest prize on the day South Africa won the right to host the event.The 91-year-old former president met with FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke and chief local organizer Danny Jordaan, who brought the 18-carat, solid gold trophy to the Nelson Mandela Foundation buildings in Johannesburg. The meeting was held in private, with no journalists present.Valcke said Mandela...Read Full Story

The official 2010 FIFA World Cup ticket was unveiled earlier, on the 9th April 2010, by FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke and Organising Committee CEO Danny Jordaan at Maponya Mall in Soweto. The official 2010 FIFA World Cup ticket The tickets will be made available to the general public in a week’s time, on 15th April 2010, when the fifth and final ticketing sales phase kicks off. This will coincide with the opening of the FIFA World Cup ticketing centres in all nine host cities and the...Read Full Story

The top South African World Cup organizer says his country is prepared to have President Barack Obama visit during the tournament.Obama met last summer at the White House with FIFA president Sepp Blatter, and South African officials have said Obama has told them he might try to attend if his schedule allows."I think it would be wonderful it he comes," Danny Jordaan, the South African organizing committee's chief executive officer, said Wednesday during an interview with The Associated Press...Read Full Story

Despite noticeable pockets of empty seats at many World Cup games, the chief executive of the local organizing committee thinks the tournament could surpass the 3 million mark in paid attendance.With eight games still to be played, paid attendance is already at 2.69 million people, Danny Jordaan said Thursday."The signs are there," Jordaan said. "The South African fans have been superb. The spirit inside the country has been one of the outstanding features of this World Cup."However, FIFA...Read Full Story

Anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu promised FIFA top brass a first class pass to heaven if they granted then-World Cup hopeful South Africa the host bid, a top organising official said on Monday.The Nobel Peace Prize laureate had told South African organisers that he would only support a bribe-free South African bid, Danny Jordaan told the CNN Global Forum."Then we had our first meeting with the FIFA executive and Archbishop Tutu said: If you vote for us, I will make sure that you get a first...Read Full Story

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela, 91-year-old former South African president, firmly intends to make a brief appearance at Friday's World Cup opening match, organizers and his family said on Thursday.But World Cup chief Danny Jordaan told reporters the decision on whether Mandela will appear at Soccer City for South Africa's encounter with Mexico would be determined on the day."He intends to be there," Jordaan said. "Whether he comes for five minutes or the whole match is not our...Read Full Story

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The World Cup has played a key role in the rebranding of the country and forging unity among South Africans, 2010 World Cup chief executive Danny Jordaan said on Saturday.In a media briefing in Sandton on the impact of the World Cup, Jordaan said the organizing committee had five objectives which have enabled the country to be rebranded positively, leave a sense of pride and achieve social cohesion among black and white South Africans."(We have achieved the...Read Full Story

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African fans will be able to snap up half a million unsold World Cup tickets in cash after FIFA agreed on Wednesday to drop a ruling that they could only be bought online or through a ballot.The final phase of sales for the month-long tournament beginning in June will start on Thursday with ticket counters in shopping malls in the nine host cities plus a network of popular supermarkets.Tickets are available for all 64 matches, including the final at Soccer City...Read Full Story

The official 2010 FIFA World Cup ticket was unveiled today by FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke and Organizing Committee CEO Danny Jordaan at Maponya Mall in Soweto. The tickets will be made available to the general public in a week’s time, on 15 April 2010, when the fifth and final ticketing sales phase kicks off. This will coincide with the opening of the FIFA World Cup ticketing centers in all nine Host Cities and the start of the over-the-counter sales.“For this last phase, we have...Read Full Story

Chief local organizer Danny Jordaan marked the 50-day countdown to the World Cup on Wednesday, saying the tournament was one of South Africa's "most important defining moments."Jordaan said hosting soccer's showcase tournament was one of a series of "significant moments that have shaped the country we live in today," comparing it to Nelson Mandela's release from prison in 1990, and South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994.Jordaan was in Kimberley, in the country's Northern Cape...Read Full Story