HARARE: The North Korean national football team would train in Zimbabwe for two weeks ahead of the World Cup in South Africa, a Zimbabwean cabinet minister said Wednesday.“We are finalising with the North Korean embassy on the actual dates when they are coming,” tourism minister Walter Mzembi told AFP.
“They (North Korea) wrote to us to say they are coming, but we do not have the dates yet.”
North Korea’s base camp was originally scheduled to be in South Africa, according to FIFA’s roll of the 32 team camps released in late February.
Mzembi said Harare was also trying to lure Brazil, Nigeria, Mexico and Chile to train in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe expects to draw at least 100,000 tourists during the World Cup, mostly South Africans who want to escape the busy period around the tournament.
“Hosting 100,000 tourists for 45 days is economically beneficial while teams will be good for perception management,” Mzembi is quoted as saying by state-run news agency New Ziana.
“Though teams have an impact, theirs would be a fleeting visit, without a huge impact on the purse.” — AFP