Reporters covering South Africa's 2010 FIFA World Cup preparations abandoned a scheduled board briefing in Johannesburg on Tuesday after waiting more than an hour with no officials in sight.
The press conference at the Westcliff Hotel was set for 1 p.m. local time. When no one from the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) arrived, the assembled journalists agreed to leave in frustration.
A LOC spokeswoman later said she had located board members, including chairman Irvin Khoza, CEO Danny Jordaan, and FIFA secretary general Ernst Linsi, only to find they had been holding a separate meeting elsewhere in the hotel.
One local football journalist described the incident as a sign of routine disrespect toward the media, expressing hope that attitudes would improve as World Cup preparations advanced. Hours later, no explanation had been offered for the officials' absence from an event they themselves had called.
South Africa continues to face significant international scrutiny over its ability to host a successful World Cup tournament.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in November 2006, in its own words.