South Africa will be the first African country to host the World Cup

Tumi Makgabo, spokesperson for South Africa's World Cup Local Organising Committee (SALOC), said the Port Elizabeth stadium is on schedule.

"This venue is being built from scratch in 24 months, I'm confident the proof will be in the pudding," Makgabo said.

World football's governing body Fifa has set a deadline of 29 April for the 48,000 semi-final venue to be ready.

Around 1,000 workers occupied the partly-built arena recently to put pressure on city bosses amidst concerns about recruitment policies and an ongoing health issues.

And Local officials in Port Elizabeth are frantically working to resolve key issues around ticketing and seating.

But there is no danger of the stadium being scratched from the list of 10 stadiums set to host the World Cup according to Makgabo who says the stadium's progress is not causing organisers sleepless nights.

What often happens with an event of this magnitude is people get excited about things which potentially could go wrong Tumi Makgabo

"We are on track to be ready for the World Cup and this is the one venue which is being built from scratch in 24 months.

"Where else in the world will you find venues that are being built in that time frame?

"So from the outset there was a clear understanding it was going to be a huge challenge. There is no conspiracy, we aren't hiding anything.

"Do we want to rush it and get it ready for Confederations Cup, but not be quite happy with it, or should we make sure it's perfect for 2010?

"It's not sending the wrong message, what often happens with an event of this magnitude is people get excited about things which potentially could go wrong.

"We saw it with the 2006 World Cup in Germany, we saw it with Athens Olympics in 2004, we saw it with the World Cup in Korea and Japan in 2002.

"The proof will be in the pudding," Makgabo added.

SALOC and Fifa will make a final decision whether the stadium remains as one of the five venues to host the Confederations Cup - the traditional preparation tournament held by the World Cup's hosts - at their next meeting on 26 April.

The venue is set to host the Confederations Cup on 14 June 2009.