The
Republic of
South Africa regularly hosts
successful major international sporting events.
Since
1994 RSA has successfully managed some of the biggest - including the 1995 Rugby
World Cup, the 2003 Cricket World Cup, the Women's World Cup of Golf in 2005
and 2006 and, in2006
an d 2007, the only street race in A1 GP
World Cup of Motorsport.
The world's biggest sporting
event the
Football
World Cup, in terms of television audience, bigger than the Olympics - is in a
super class
all on its own.
In 2010, South Africa will be the centre of the world's
attention.
For four
weeks in
2010 the
world will
read, see
and hear
the words
South
Africa more
than ever
before. The
2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan was the most extensively covered and
viewed event in television history. South Africa 2010,
promise to draw even bigger audiences.
Already
South
Africa 2010
has drawn
the biggest
sponsorship
In World
Cup
History.
Billions of television viewers
and radio
listeners, an estimated three million
international visitors and the cream of the world's sporting media will be
focused on the southern Africa.
South Africa
will host the World Cup
on African
soil for
the first
time. Fifa was not only looking at what the country
already offers -telecommunications, tourism and
sporting infrastructure,
world-class
transport, and a people renowned for their hospitality and
passion for the beautiful game. They were looking ahead.
In 2010, football fans will enjoy the benefits of a host of
multibillion-rand infrastructure projects
already in
progress
and some
are ahead
of
schedule.
Between now and 2010, South Africa will spend in the region of
R5.2-billion
on upgrades
to the
country's
airports,
R5-billion
on building
and
renovating
10 World
Cup
stadiums, and R3.5-billion on improvements to the country's
road and rail network.
The country will also be working to tight deadlines to ensure that the
Gautrain, a high-speed rail link between Johannesburg, Pretoria and
Johannesburg International Airport, is up and running in time.
Ten stadiums
Five of South Africa's football stadiums will undergo
major renovations for 2010: Soccer City and Ellis Park in
Johannesburg,
Loftus Versfeld in
Pretoria, the Royal Bafokeng stadium in
Rustenburg in
North West province, and Vodacom Park in
Bloemfontein in the Free State.
New stadiums will be built at
Mbombela in Mpumalanga and in the Nelson
Mandela Metro (encompassing
Port Elizabeth) in the Eastern Cape.
Peter Mokaba stadium in
Polokwane in Limpopo will be rebuilt, as will Kings
Park stadium in Durban and
Cape Town's Green Point stadium. Kings Park and
Green Point stadium will become completely new multi-sport facilities, Green
Point complete with a retractable dome to protect fans and players from the
Cape's unpredictable winter weather.
Boost for the economy
according to consulting firm
Grant Thornton," the World
Cup will pump around R21.3-billion into South Africa's economy, generating
an estimated R12.7-billion in direct spending and creating an estimated 159
000 new jobs".
The country's tourism industry will benefit from the estimated three million
visitors expected for the tournament, while construction and engineering
companies will look to a slice of the billions to be spent on infrastructure
in the lead-up to the event.
However, the indirect spin-offs of an improved image abroad could have an
even greater impact on the economy.
"There will be a big direct injection for the economy",
Standard Bank
economist Goolam Ballim said after Fifa announced the 2010 host. "But the
indirect impact may be more meaningful for a sustainable economic lift in
subsequent years ... it will help change the perceptions that a large number
of foreign investors hold of Africa and South Africa."
In his 2006 State of the Nation address, President Thabo Mbeki said the
World Cup would make a huge contribution, not only to South Africa's
socio-economic growth, but to the development of the continent as a whole.
"In return for these irreplaceable benefits, we owe it to Fifa and the rest
of the soccer world to prepare properly for 2010," Mbeki said, challenging
South Africans to work together to ensure that the country hosts "the best
Soccer World Cup ever".
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