SA's next World Cup challenge
30 October 2007
While most South Africans were still buzzing from the Springboks' Rugby World Cup victory in Paris, 2010 Local Organising Committee CEO Danny Jordaan was in London last week preparing for South Africa's next big World Cup, when the world's biggest sporting event will be held on African soil for the first time.
As part of a global tour of 2010 briefings, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) teamed up with the International Marketing Council of South Africa (IMC) to brief investors in London on the country's preparations for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
The briefing came exactly one month ahead of the first official event leading up to 2010, the Preliminary Draw taking place in Durban on 25 November.
Collaboration between the IMC and the LOC forms part of the wider 2010 National Communication Partnership, which is made up of around 250 leaders of communication from across all sectors and disciplines working together to take advantage of the opportunity presented by the World Cup for both the country and the continent.
All eyes will turn to South Africa in November, with 3 000 local and international guests expected to attend the World Cup draw, which will also make public the official 2010 poster and slogan.
Fifa, after its latest inspection tour, which took in four out of nine host cities earlier in October, expressed confidence that everything was on track for 2010, with good progress being made to meet construction deadlines.
Jordaan confirmed this in London last week, saying Fifa were very happy on their last visit to SA. Not only is construction on track, but the tournament is also already a commercial success, bringing in the highest revenue in Fifa's history.
One of the questions that always comes up, however, is: Will the South African team be ready?
Jordaan feels that the development of football players in South Africa can improve. "We have to do more in our country, we have one of the best coaches in the world [Carlos Alberto Parreira], but we still have a long way to go."
Bafana Bafana's victory against Zambia in the Cosafa Cup final last Wednesday hopefully provides a taste of what is possible for the team in the future.
While South Africa grapples with issues such as the high crime rate, lack of infrastructure and power supply shortages ahead of 2010, an international sporting event of this stature could be exactly the catalyst needed to accelerate the country's development.
Preparations for the tournament have already created 24 000 new jobs, according to Jordaan, while the government has committed R430-billion to beef up infrastructure, and the South African Police Service (SAPS) is due to increase its staff numbers from 164 000 to 192 000 by 2010.
The LOC is considering using generators to power the 2010 stadiums and the International Broadcast Centre to ensure there are no hitches during the winter period.
As Jordaan puts it: "Major events are a glue that binds the nation". This is certainly true in South Africa's case, where everyone is working hard to create a legacy of "a country and a continent with a bright future."
SAinfo reporter
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