Johannesburg  - Football's controlling body FIFA on Tuesday expressed their disappointment at the lack of hype surrounding the Confederations Cup that is to be hosted in South Africa from June 14 to June 18.

The FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke told a press briefing that he did not see a single poster for the competition.

"There's nothing not even at the airport that shows you that this is a Confederations Cup host city. We appointed a signage company on Tuesday to promote it," he said.

Valcke said that the stadiums for the tournament, which will see world champions Italy, five-time world champions Brazil, the champions of Asia (Iraq), Oceania (New Zealand), Africa (Egypt), Caribbean, North and Central America (US), Europe (Spain) and the 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa competing, were ready.

"Now it's only about delivery. We cannot move the kick-off, we can't say 'sorry, there's going to be a delay'," he said about the tournament, which he described as a dress rehearsal for the World Cup.

The head of the South African local organizing committee for the World Cup, Danny Jordaan, meanwhile expressed disappointment that just 20 per cent of applications for the two tournaments were from South Africans.

"We are appealing to South Africans, this is your opportunity go out there and buy tickets. If you are waiting for a week or a month before the kick-off, you won't be able to watch the game," he said.

The sale of tickets for the Confederations Cup has also been disappointing, with just 170,000 tickets of more than 800,000 having been sold. (dpa)