The central government will help South African cities bear the costs of hosting next year's African Cup of Nations tournament amid reports that Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban are balking at staging matches.
South Africa's Minister of Sport Fikile Mbalula appeared at a nationally televised news conference on Friday alongside football officials to offer the concession.
Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban all have iconic stadiums that were built or extensively rebuilt for the 2010 World Cup, but it appears another legacy of the world's biggest football tournament is wariness about taking on other major events.
''It's correct for Cape Town to say they don't want to sign a blank check,'' Mbalula said.
But he says the central government will help with costs he estimates will run into the millions of rand (dollars). Fikile says exact costs have yet to be worked out.
''The cities will actually fall into line after Cabinet has pronounced on these particular issues,'' Fikile said, saying no cities have ruled themselves out as possible hosts.
The South African Football Association has delayed the initial announcement of the host venues until April 20.
In an email to The Associated Press this week, Johannesburg spokesman Gabu Tugwana said his city ''has indicated that it is not in a position to host games and has therefore not signed a host agreement.''
The 2010 World Cup final was played at Johannesburg's 90,000-plus capacity Soccer City - now known as FNB Stadium. But officials have since had trouble filling the biggest football stadium in Africa. Mbalula acknowledged Friday that after spending ''billions'' building stadiums for the World Cup, cities were now finding it difficult to fill the venues, which remain costly to run.
Cape Town city official Grant Pascoe said this week his city saw hosting Africa Cup games as an honor, but added it was worried about the impact ''the possible undefined costs could have on both Cape Town and on other municipalities.''
South African organizers were repeatedly questions before the World Cup about whether a country with an impoverished majority would benefit from putting on a costly international event. The answer was often that the benefits were intangible but valuable - in the skills South Africans learned as they built infrastructure for the tournament and hosted visitors from around the world, and the boost to the country's international reputation.
But when the time came to consider bidding to host the 2020 Olympics, South Africa said it wanted to instead focus on social priorities in a country where a quarter of the work force is unemployed and schools and hospitals are inadequate.
Still, South Africa saw a 15.1 percent increase in tourist arrivals, with more than 8 million visitors, in 2010 compared to 2009, and much of the jump was linked to the World Cup. Tourism continued strong last year, with a 3.3 percent increase in arrivals over the World Cup year, perhaps an indication that the tournament was still influencing foreigners' perceptions of South Africa.
Mbalula, the sports minister, said his government would work to ensure the Africa Cup had concrete benefits for South Africans. The government would try to ensure, for example, that local companies were not barred from advertising opportunities during the tournament. During the World Cup, contracts with international companies often meant South African companies were locked out.
South African Football Association President Kirsten Nematendani said Friday hosting the tournament was a matter of pride.
''The returns are priceless,'' he said. ''Cities will show, showcase what they're made of.''
He added South Africa could use the opportunity to show it was not xenophobic, following an explosion of violence against foreigners, particularly those from elsewhere in Africa, in some of South Africa's poorest communities in 2008.
Mbalula said South Africa was now ready and willing to bring the tournament here.
''We are getting organized,'' he said. ''Africa Cup of Nations is coming.''
The tournamant was to have been played in Libya. South Africa stepped in after political violence that led to the toppling and death of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi swept across the North African country last year.
