8 Jun 2010

FIFA pledges no repeat of stampede

6:36 am on 8 June 2010

FIFA's President Sepp Blatter has promised there'll be no repeat of a stampede by fans during the Nigeria-North Korea World Cup World Cup warmup match, describing the incident in Johannesburg as a "wake up call" for organisers.

At least 15 people were injured in the stampede, but FIFA's general secretary Jerome Valcke says the disruption which interrupted play in the second half illustrated the danger of selling tickets on match days which FIFA has refused to do for the month long finals.

FIFA had nothing to do with the organisation of yesterday's match.

Meanwhile England did little to justify a place among the World Cup favourites when they laboured to a 3-0 win over the South African premier league side Platinum Stars.

And Ivory Coast's striker Didier Drogba has rejoined his teammates at their training camp in the Swiss Alps following surgery at the wekend on his broken arm, but no decision has been made on his involvement in the World Cup.