THE DAY football-lovers all over the world had been waiting for, the last four years, has arrived. The World Cup 2010 kicks of this afternoon in Johannesburg’s, 90,000-seater, Soccer City stadium, with the hosts taking on Mexico. For the next month, hundreds of millions of people will be watching, talking and thinking football, a welcome distraction during the difficult times of a world recession.
This is first World Cup, in the tournament’s 80-year history, being held in Africa, something unimaginable a few years ago. South Africa has invested billions in creating the infrastructure for this football extravaganza, from upgrading telecommunications and transport to building ultra-modern football stadiums and freeways. Staging big international events is very expensive business, because huge demands are made of the host country by the organisers.
South Africa did not have much luck, having to stage a World Cup while there is a world recession. FIFA’s forecast of half a million people attending the tournament has proved wildly optimistic, with bookings running at just over half the initial estimates. High air fares and hotel rates, combined with the steep ticket prices set by FIFA, must have discouraged many people from going to South Africa.
This would have been an ideal opportunity to promote the country’s natural beauty to future tourists, but the world’s media had been more inclined to focus on South Africa’s crime rate instead. It has the highest rape rate in the world and a staggering18,000 murders are committed every year. This is not the kind of information that would have encouraged people to attend the World Cup.
Nowadays, however, World Cups are television events. It is television and the huge amounts of money that is generated from advertising and sponsorship that has made this such a lucrative tournament. Thanks to television, people in every corner of the globe are now able to share the World Cup experience and live every moment of the excitement offered by the beautiful game, performed by the world’s best players.
FIFA have introduced a new ball for this tournament. Unfortunately it cannot guarantee that we will be treated to entertaining matches high in excitement factor. We can only hope that the sides that play adventurously, with an emphasis on skill and flair would prevail over the cautious and pragmatic sides. This may be too much to expect from a game blighted by gamesmanship and ‘the end justifies the means’ attitude, but every World Cup offers new hope.
And today all true football fans will be praying that the first World Cup to be held in Africa will live in their memory, for many years to come.
