25 January 2007

Soccerex, the mega football expo taking place in South Africa for the next three years, has already attracted more exhibitors than the 2006 event that took place in Dubai.

The exhibition, now entering its 11th year of touring cities around the world, will bring soccer associations, football clubs, businesses and the media from all over the world to South Africa's Gauteng province from November 2007 to 2009. It will also boost the country's build-up to the 2010 Fifa World Cup.

"More exhibitions have been booked for the 2007 expo than in Dubai," the expo's sales and marketing director, James Worrall, told reporters in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie said this was an indication of how keen the international community was to come to South Africa. "It will be three times as big as Dubai," Revie said.

The only business-to-business convention for football, Soccerex gives exhibitors and delegates the opportunity to network with suppliers, manufacturers, key buyers and decision-makers in international football. It attracts football legends, top football clubs and football playing nations.

Soccerex has been hosted by London, Paris, Los Angeles and, in 2006, Dubai, where it attracted about 3 000 professionals and 250 exhibitors from 75 different countries.

Roughly R5-billion in business deals were negotiated at Soccerex 2005. By the time Soccerex comes to SA, this figure is expected to jump to R7-billion.

"Football is a multibillion-dollar industry," Soccerex chairman Tony Martin said when South Africa won the right to host the event last year. "Just to give you and indication, of all the sports products in the world purchased, 75% of them are for football. This is a massive business, and the benefits to the Gauteng economy will be huge."

It is projected that Soccerex will inject more than R700-million into Gauteng's economy as well as give the province millions of rands worth of media coverage.

The organisers expect the event to attract unprecedented attention in the build-up to the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa.

Gauteng Sport, Culture and Recreation MEC Barbara Creecy said the event offered the province and the country the opportunity to showcase their competitive advantages on the international stage.

"Because Soccerex attracts the who's who of soccer and business from across the globe, it will give Gauteng an opportunity to expand economically," Creecy added.

SouthAfrica.info reporter and BuaNews

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