G4S, the world’s biggest security firm, will not operate at next summer’s soccer World Cup in
“We are not going to be involved because we don’t think the security is going to be that good — they are not that well organised yet,” Nick Buckles said in an interview.
But Danny Jordaan, chief executive of the 2010 organising committee, rejected the concerns, saying he was confident the tournament would be safe. He referred to criticism from “individual companies with vested interests.”
Jordaan said his country had hosted many major international and sporting events, including the current Indian Premier League Cricket competition, which was moved to
“Our country has hosted at least 146 events … safely and securely and we are confident this will again be the case for the 2010 FIFA World Cup,” Jordaan said in a statement.
Buckles said that for G4S,
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He said the situation was compounded by customers looking for the cheapest option for security, rather than the best service, but he did expect things to improve. “People don’t really think security is that key and it should be. It will get better … It’s about us educating the market,” he said.
G4S has nearly 600 000 staff in over 100 countries. Its most vulnerable business in
G4S missed out on the Olympic Games in
“We’re clearly expecting to do something in
G4S was formed from the 2004 merger between
Reuters says the firm has shown little impact from the recession, partly because 30 percent of its revenues come from long-term government contracts.
Buckles said the group’s growth strategy was to offer a more comprehensive service than just security, focusing on the ports, aviation and oil & gas sectors.
“We are appointing three new sector heads to work on product development. We have to choose sectors where security and safety are key drivers,” he said.
He added that whereas the firm would have previously supplied manpower to protect an oil pipeline in
G4S is expecting a major jump in oil & gas work in