JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama has accepted an invitation to attend the opening ceremony of the soccer World Cup finals in South Africa next year, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Monday.
President Obama, whose late father was Kenyan, has indicated he will attend the event on June 11 next year when the first World Cup to be staged on African soil begins.
Blatter told a media briefing: “The World Cup in Africa will go well, there is no doubt,” Blatter said.
“And the man who said, ‘Yes we can do it,’ will be there. President Obama has accepted an invitation to the opening ceremony. Of course the schedule of heads of state can change, but he has said he will be there if he can.”
