JOHANNESBURG — FIFA president Sepp Blatter awarded South Africa's organizers of the Confederations Cup an encouraging mark of 7.5 out of 10 on Monday but he warned there was still work to do to improve transport and find accommodation for next year's World Cup.

While the Confederation Cup was considered a major success on the field as South Africa continues its buildup to the World Cup, Blatter and FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke admitted it had also revealed problems that had to be resolved in the 11 months leading up to the June 11-July 11 championship, the first to be staged in Africa.

Blatter gave what he considered an encouraging score out of 10, which he felt would rise to eight by the time of the draw in Cape Town on Dec. 4 and maybe a 10 by the end of the World Cup.

"I am a very satisfied and a very happy president of FIFA, together with our friends in South Africa," said Blatter, although he also acknowledged the issues which have to resolved.

"We know there are logistics that we have to work on. There are problems and transport linked with accommodation — we don't intend hiding behind compliments. This is a special matter because South Africa is expecting 450,000 visitors for the World Cup, fans from all round the world who want to find somewhere to sleep and it's not easy to go to camping sites because it is winter time and they have to be transported from one venue to another. This is a big challenge."

Valcke said a successful World Cup could only happen if the overseas visitors traveling to South Africa for the month-long, 64-game World Cup were also satisfied with facilities. Organizers are still 15,000 hotel rooms short of their target and could accept accommodation offers from neighboring countries

"Transportation is an issue, accommodation is an issue," he said. "These are things that have to be done. Yes, the park and ride does not work, yes, the media shuttle system has not worked, yes the signage has not worked, it was difficult to come in and out of the stadium."

Despite the problems, Valcke said he was confident that organizers had the time to solve them.

"We have to take into consideration that hundreds of thousands of people will be coming to South Africa for the World Cup," he said. "But there's not a single issue where we have the feeling that in 11 months we might not be able to solve them.

"Around the final draw I am sure we will be able to tell you exactly what are our solutions are to all these issues we are facing from the Confederations Cup."