DOUBLE UPDATE - Looks like Germany is out of contention if FIFA deems South Africa unable to host the 2010 World Cup after the DFB’s Theo Zwanziger admitted his country could not match the success of the 2006 World Cup.

UPDATE - Looks like our man Sepp is pretty worried about South Africa, especially when FIFA admits to speaking with THREE different Football Associations about the possibilities of hosting the 2010 World Cup on short notice.

“I have spoken to three possible, not only possible, but three associations and countries that would be able to stage the World Cup in one year’s time,” Blatter said in an interview broadcast on Thursday by Sky News. “They need one year (to prepare).”

This is not looking good for either FIFA or South Africa. Can you imagine what South Africa’s going to do if this World Cup is pulled from them after starting construction on four new stadiums throughout the country?

Will South Africa be ready to host the 2009 Confederations Cup, the warm up tournament for all South Africans venues set to host the 2010 World Cup?

This week the Nelson Mandela Port Elizabeth Stadium was droped from the 2009 Confederation Cup schedule as the 2010 World Cup Local Organizing Committee’s Technical Team admitted that the completion date of the stadium would not meet the March 2009 deadline.

FIFA’s Secretary General Jerome Valcke was confidant that the Port Elizabeth will be done in time for 2010.

With rolling blackouts,the murder of a retired Austrian footballer on a golf course just 40 miles outside Durban, a 40% unemployment rate and problems with public transportation already causing problems for the South African delegation, FIFA President Sepp Blatter might have just admitted that he has a Plan B, which as of earlier this year was South Africa, along with Plan C and Plan D.

Remember, FIFA has pulled a World Cup before. In 2003 FIFA pulled the Women’s World Cup from China after the SARS outbreak and awarded it to the United States. I know, I know it’s not the same, but with all the difficulties that South Africa is having and will continue to have, it would make sense.

Via Mark Zeigler’s Article in the Union Tribune

Ten days ago, when asked about South Africa’s ever-tenuous state of preparations, Blatter said: “I would be quite negligent as president if I did not have a Plan B tucked away at the back of a drawer.”

Let’s hope he does.