Football a 'beautiful business'
27 November 2007Football has become so big that the game is no longer merely entertainment, but a product on offer to more than one billion people around the world, Fifa president Sepp Blatter told delegates at the opening of the Soccerex business-to-business convention at Johannesburg's Sandton Convention Centre on Monday.
Blatter said that during the past 50 years, the game of football had developed to such an extent that there were now about 260-million people directly involved in it.
"The game of football has become a product - a very good product in marketing terms. Along the way big partners like the television and the market [spectators and businesses involved in football] have come on board, making football one of the most lucrative businesses in the world," he said.
Blatter pointed out that a new market had opened up for football, with a leading global consulting and information technology services provider, India's Satyam Computer Services, recently became a Fifa World Cup sponsor.
"To add on to this move, India [has] just started professional football. This means football has just acquired a new market worth one billion people."
World Cup
Turning to the 2010 Fifa World Cup, Blatter said he had no doubt that South Africa would succeed in organising a memorable tournament, noting that the World Cup preliminary draw held in Durban on the weekend was "a resounding success, a sign that the country is up to the task to stage one of the biggest sporting events in the world."
Taking the podium, Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa said that as a province, Gauteng was proud to host the soccer convention for the next three years, adding that the convention was "a window of opportunity" to the outside world.
Soccerex, which also opened on Sunday with the Kagiso Soccerex Football Festival at the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, is being attended by 5 000 delegates and over 200 exhibitors from 90 countries.
"Soccerex will showcase the vibrancy, the culture and the business opportunities that the province can offer to the world," Shilowa said. "And, in addition to this, Soccerex will leave a legacy project associated with the hosting of the event. A sports complex will be built in Mapetla, Soweto, which will serve as a hub for educational, life skills and talent identification programmes."
Soccerex chairperson Tony Martin said attendance at this year's convention had doubled over last year's event in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
"The event has been generating infinite scope for marketing and the opportunities generated by the business of football are vast. This business has become a beautiful business."
Social impact
On top of the economic opportunities provided by football, it had far-reaching social consequences, according to Martin.
"Individuals and families have been united through football. The game has generated prestige and goodwill for entire nations. A football club, for example, has the power to unite an entire community and national teams have cemented feelings of togetherness in footballing countries," he said.
Martin said that the five-a-side Kagiso Soccerex Football Festival was a resounding success, attracting hundreds of spectators on the day. Africa All Stars walloped Soccerex Select 4-0 in the finals.
South African football team coach Carlos Alberto Perreira said that Soccerex provided an opportunity for people involved in football to meet and mingle. It was also an excellent opportunity for the football-loving nation of South Africa to prepare for 2010.
"Soccerex provides an opportunity for us to prepare for the World Cup. At the moment the South African football team is preparing for the big picture - the 2010 Fifa World Cup. I know the team has been criticised for losing a string of matches but this should be taken as part of preparations for the big picture," he said.
Perreira advised South Africans to be patient with the national team. "It has taken me time to acclimatise and people have lamented South Africa dropping points in the world standings, but this is not important. Having a plan for 2010 is more important."
Source: City of Johannesburg
