They now face a race against time to get the stadium ready for the first game between Honduras and Chile on June 16, followed by Italy against New Zealand on June 20. There is local speculation that another pitch failure could force Fifa to switch the fixtures to a different venue.
Conflicting official explanations of what has gone wrong served only to sow confusion on a tour of nine cities. Ronnie Moyo, a 2010 marketing and events manager who gave a guided tour of the Mbombela Stadium, said the original pitch was removed in December after failing a Fifa inspection because "25% of the pitch had clay soil".
Will the pitch Mbomb?
Mail and Guardian
March 5, 2010
