Cape Town has been picked to host a World Cup semi-final

Construction of a new waterfront stadium in Cape Town for the 2010 World Cup finals could be delayed by the city council.

Helen Zille, the newly-elected mayor, has complained about the cost of the 68,000 seat Greenpoint stadium.

Residents near the site proposed by Fifa, football's governing body, threaten legal action to stop its construction.

"No sovereign state allows another state to dictate to it, and no sovereign state allows an organisation to dictate to it," said David Polovin, head of planning for the area ratepayers' association.

"The entire process will be subjected to a long and drawn-out process in the courts... no sod will be turned," he told a meeting with stadium planning officials on Tuesday.

Local residents particularly oppose one of two identified sites for the stadium that will destroy a 100-year-old golf course.

The mayor, who belongs to a party in opposition to the ruling African National Congress (ANC), claimed the city could not afford its expected contribution to build the arena.

She said the proposed stadium, identified by Fifa as a semi-final venue, could not be built when poor residents remained homeless.

Zille's statement has provoked angry responses from national and regional ANC leaders and the World Cup organisers.

They have vowed not to let political bickering hinder preparations for the 2010 event.

"Negative public communication, aimed at accessing resources or any other purpose, does not help the image of the country nor does it in any case reflect the true state of affairs," a spokesman for President Thabo Mbeki's cabinet said in response to Zille's statement.

The FNB stadium in Johannesburg will host the 2010 final

Officials of South Africa's World Cup organising committee say the Greenpoint site offers the most lucrative spin-offs for Cape Town.

The plans will allow for improvements to the surrounding area, including a new sports and urban park zone next to the stadium.

Zille, who is said to have toned down her opposition to the stadium project, said the city council was "100 percent behind" Cape Town hosting a semi-final but it needed assurances on how the stadium would be financed.

"We have to accept that they (the Greenpoint residents) do have lawyers and [if they challenge the construction] this could cause massive delays, so we have to have alternative sites," said Robert MacDonald, Zille's spokesman.

The Greenpoint site, a large green area of mostly sports fields, was chosen by Fifa and the national, regional and then ANC-led city government.