---

R450m World Cup legacy trust launched

19 April 2012

The R450-million 2010 Fifa World Cup Legacy Trust, aimed at ensuring that South Africans continue reaping the benefits of hosting Africa's first Fifa World Cup, is now fully operational.

This was announceed by the world football governing body's secretary-general, Jérôme Valcke, following the inaugural meeting of the Trust's board at South African Football Association (Safa) headquarters in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

"We are very pleased that the Trust is now fully operational," Valcke said. "It is the first time in the history of the Fifa World Cup that such a trust has been established and it required a complex administrative process, which is why it took us some time to set it up.

"I'm glad that we are now entering a phase that will focus on implementing the vision to ensure that the legacy can benefit the host country."

Range of public initiatives

The 2010 Legacy Trust will support a wide range of public initiatives that harness football for sport development, education, health and humanitarian activities in South Africa.

Fifa has transferred R450-million into the Legacy Trust accounts. This will be administered by international auditors Ernst and Young.

This is in addition to the R700-million already allocated by Fifa a legacy of the World Cup and given to Safa in the build-up to the event for preparation purposes (R450-million) and for the construction of Safa House (R150-million).

Safa was also given R40-million for football development projects, and a further R70-million for investment in a fleet of buses and cars to enable the 52 regional structures of the association to transport their teams.

Grassroots level

"From today, we can look forward to the fruits of 2010 being enjoyed at grassroots level and within communities across South Africa," Safa president Kirsten Nematandani said on Wednesday.

The Trust Board will be chaired by Safa fourth vice-president Danny Jordaan. The other trustees are Nematandani and Eric Mtshatsha, with Alec Moemi and Michael Katz representing business, and Valcke, development director Thierry Regenass and CSR head Federico Addiechi representing Fifa.

Other legacy initiatives that have been implemented by Fifa since 2005 include the 20 Football for Hope Centres, the Win in Africa with Africa initiative, the Football for Health project and the 2010 Fifa World Cup Ticket Fund.

Source: BuaNews