SEOUL, June 13: FIFA general secretary Michel Zen-Ruffinen said on Thursday that Japan and South Korea built far too many stadiums for the World Cup creating a logistical nightmare for the event.

In a generally highly favourable assessment of how the first co-hosted cup had been conducted, Zen-Ruffinen said the decision to play games in 20 stadiums — split evenly between Japan and South Korea — had been the single biggest problem of the cup.

“The number of stadiums is too large. That is crazy,” Zen-Ruffinen told a news conference.

FIFA officials said the constant need to move staff to 20 stadium — double the number used at previous cups — had been a major test and drain on resources.

“We seem as though we were on the move all the time,” one FIFA official said.—Reuters