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GERMANY NOT ON WORLD CUP STANDBY

The president of the German Football Association has revealed Germany is not one of the countries on standby to host the 2010 World Cup should South Africa be unable to stage the event.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter recently claimed three countries were in line to step in should South Africa not be ready for the tournament in two years' time.

Fears over South Africa's preparations have arisen since it emerged the new stadium in Port Elizabeth had fallen behind schedule and would not be ready in time to stage Confederations Cup games next summer.

But German FA (DFB) chief Theo Zwanziger feels staging the World Cup for the second time in four years would be too much to ask for the 2006 hosts.

"Our country is fundamentally not ready to host the 2010 World Cup if the problems in South Africa are not resolved in time," he told the Cologne Express.

"We would be barking up the wrong tree if we tried to repeat the fantastic summer fairytale of 2006."

Despite insisting only a natural disaster could prevent South Africa from staging the event, Blatter has still put a plan B into place.

But Germany, it appears, does not figure in this plan.

"Mr Blatter has not yet contacted the DFB with regards to this and has not informed us of his intentions either," said DFB spokesman Harald Stenger.

SportingLife.com