CAF officials say Angola is on track to host the African Cup of Nations
Angola's preparations to host the African Cup of Nations are on track.
So say Confederation of African Football (Caf) officials who've just completed an inspection visit of the tournament venues.
CAF executive member Suketu Patel, said "I think it's going extremely well," and he dismissed rumours to the contrary as "absolutely rubbish".
"There are a few things that need to be resolved and we brought that to the attention of the government," he said.
"But we are quite confident it will be a very good Nations Cup in the end."
Patel's comments came at the end of a five-day visit which took the Caf delegation led by Mohamed Raouroua to the four host cities Luanda, Lubango, Benguela and Cabinda to inspect stadiums and other facilities.
None of the four stadiums are finished and labourers are working around the clock to complete work in Luanda, the largest of the four with a capacity of 50,000.
Earlier in the month there was speculation in some newspapers that 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa may have to step in because Angola was not ready to host the Cup of Nations.
However when asked about this Patel said the rumours were "absolutely rubbish".
Speaking after a private meeting with Caf's Raouroua and Patel, Angola's sports minister Gonçalves Muandumba told journalists that everything was running to plan, and it was now a case of taking care of the details.
He also made assurances that visiting journalists and fans would have no problems obtaining visas to visit Angola - an area of concern Patel said Caf had raised.
Last week Antonio Mangueira, the executive director of Angolan's organising committee (Cocan) admitted Luanda's stadium would not be inaugarated on November 11.
Plans to open the venue on Angola's Independence Day had to be shelved because apparently the newly-seeded grass pitch needed time to settle.
No exact dates were given for the completion of any of the stadiums, despite earlier pledges to have them ready by October 31.
On Friday it will be exactly 100 days until the start of competition on January 10.
No tickets have gone on sale yet but COCAN's president Justinho Fernandes said this was being worked on at the moment.
Ticket prices will be between 200 and 500 Kwanzas (between $2 and $6dollars), Cocan have said.
Angola was seen as a controversial choice for hosting the Cup of Nations, having only ended its 27 year civil war in 2002.
But the government has used the tournament as a stimulus for reconstruction and is spending over one billion dollars on the four new stadiums, new access roads, and on refitting and extending airports.
The official draw will take place on November 20 in Luanda and the opening ceremony and first game of the tournament is on January 10 next year.
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