Police step in at fifth World Cup venue

Half the World Cup venues are now under police control after the local organising committee confirmed the force had stepped in at Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg following strike action by workers for a private security firm.

Temporary contractors for Stallion Security Consortium had already withdrawn their labour at the World Cup venues in Cape Town, Durban and Ellis Park in Johannesburg and have now done so at the tournament's showpiece stadium, which staged the opening match and will host the final on July 11.

Police took control of security in Port Elizabeth before the tournament began, which means five of the 10 venues are now under police supervision rather than private control.

The remaining stadium venues at Rustenburg, Pretoria, Nelspruit, Polokwane and Bloemfontein are managed by Fidelity security. A spokesman for the South African Police Service's joint operations centre confirmed the police were now in place at Soccer City and said they were "on standby" to take over at other venues as and when required.

A spokesman for the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) told Press Association Sport last night that a blanket strike would go ahead unless FIFA and the local organising committee intervened "in the national interest".

It has been reported that a number of the temporary contractors taken on by Stallion have been paid off and had their contracts terminated.

The LOC and FIFA are expected to give an update on the situation at their briefing at Soccer City this morning.