Pretoria - World football governing body, FIFA, has appointed former 2010 World Cup boss, Danny Jordaan, as special advisor to the 2014 Brazil World Cup Organising Committee.
Jordaan, who is also vice president of the South African Football Association (Safa), has also been appointed to work with Alexy Sorokin, head of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
With this appointment, Jordaan will serve on the World Cup Organising committee, which comprises the world's top football administrators, including FIFA President Sepp Blatter, continental confederation presidents and the entire FIFA executive.
The World Cup generates 90% of FIFA's revenue and is considered to be its crown jewel. The World Cup Organising committee is therefore acknowledged to be one of FIFA's most important bodies.
Reacting to his appointment, Jordaan said: "I am very proud and excited to have been asked to serve on this vital committee, which supports the backbone of FIFA's business model.
"The 2010 World Cup, which was acknowledged as the most successful ever, generated a massive US$4.2 billion. The projected target for Brazil is to grow that by 10%."
He said the FIFA Organising Committee had already received a comprehensive briefing from the Brazilian Organising Committee about all facets of its preparations.
"The main task of the FIFA Organising Committee will be to critically examine Brazil's preparations for the 2014 World Cup to ensure that there are no logistical obstacles in the way of this target being achieved," he said.
Jordaan has worked in various FIFA committees, including the 1998 World Cup in France; the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan and Germany 2006.
He said his appointment bore testimony to South Africa's credibility in hosting major events and was an appropriate recognition of the country's position as a rising footballing nation.
"In 2010, we created the benchmark of how to host a great and successful event and future World Cups will always be evaluated against what South Africa achieved."
Apart from the latest appointment, Jordaan is also in the FIFA Transparency and Compliance Committee, which deals with good corporate governance in the world football controlling body.
He is also the chair of Safa's international and commercial bodies and is deputy chair of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) marketing and the AFCON organising committee, among some of his various international responsibilities.
