Craig Urquhart
14 September 2007
Johannesburg — WITH just 1000 days remaining until the Soccer World Cup gets under way, it is safe to say that SA's 2010 honeymoon is over.
As the countdown clocks around the country lose a digit, we are presented with an opportunity to reflect on the path we have travelled in order to assess what may lie ahead over the next 33 months.
The long, winding and emotional campaign, which eventually saw SA securing the rights to host the showpiece of international football, is a thing of the past. The hard work is well under way and millions of South Africans, new to staging an event of this magnitude, have helped lay the foundations for 2010. The result is that the skylines of every host city are now dotted with cranes, towering over stadiums and other World Cup-related projects.
Nevertheless, we would do well to learn from the lessons of the 2004 Olympic Games, where there were always concerns over whether Athens was capable of pulling it off. Preparations were dogged by construction delays and bitter in-fighting between key decision makers. In the four years leading up to the Olympics, untold damage was done to that city's reputation. But the clouds finally parted, the flame was lit and the Greeks confounded their critics by hosting a truly magnificent and trouble-free spectacle.
And the 2006 World Cup hosts also gifted us with some important lessons. Germany overcame enormous obstacles and bitter
in-fighting to produce a spectacle that transformed the country. The government, big business and the fan on the street united behind a holistic brand campaign.
The "Germany -- Land of Ideas" initiative used the 2006 World Cup to improve the economy, attract international investment and produce a safe, profitable and spectacular tournament. The hosts may not have made it to the final but, at the end of the day, it didn't seem to matter. Images of millions of football-loving supporters, draped in black, yellow and orange were flashed around the world. Germany, it seemed, had finally transcended its troubled legacy and liberated itself.
These are lessons that need to be learned quickly. SA continues to wrestle with its demons and its problems are formidable. Already there have been no shortages of obstacles on the various 2010 construction projects, including legal challenges and labour disruptions.
Much has been said -- and written -- about the crime situation and many South Africans doubt we can protect 400000 World Cup visitors when we are having difficulty protecting our own. But a number of new initiatives are on the cards to ensure that crime and violence do not mar the tournament. These include boosting the ranks of metro police forces around the country, recruiting thousands of new reservists, deploying security personnel from countries that will be represented at the World Cup and setting up special courts to deal with offences related to the event.
The results of the recent African Response survey reveal that around three-quarters of South Africans believe the country will be ready to host the tournament. And more than 86% of respondents believe that the country as a whole will benefit from the event in terms of job creation, tourism and money brought into the economy.
Let's pause for a moment and reflect on the likely reasons for this change of heart. First, the incessant bickering between 2010 decision makers has completely died down. Second, the government has rolled out funds for key construction projects. Third, ordinary South Africans believe they will play a role thanks to initiatives such as the programme that creates a framework allowing bed-and-breakfasts and guest houses to be contracted for official Fifa accommodation.
And, of course, an entire subcontinent is preparing to play a role in the successful hosting of the event. It is no secret -- or surprise -- that every southern African country wants to be in on the action when the tournament is staged on the continent for the first time. Already, all of our neighbours have formulated plans to ensure they will be part and parcel of the extravaganza. The spin-offs are enormous, particularly in the tourism sector, which is where most other countries stand to benefit. Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Swaziland are among the countries that have expressed a burning desire to accommodate some of the visiting squads and, of course, the thousands of spectators that will inevitably follow them.
This is not a uniquely African initiative. In previous World Cups , competing nations have been based elsewhere in an attempt to remove themselves from the intense pressure of training in the same cities where they play their matches. Time and again, Danny Jordaan and other Local Organising Committee role-players have stressed that the tournament belongs to Africa.
The next 33 months will determine whether the World Cup will be a spectacular, but unnecessary, production in a country with severe social problems, or whether we are on the brink of a 2010-induced revolution which could change this country -- and the rest of the continent -- forever.
Urquhart is a former Fifa World Cup media officer and the editor of www.project2010.co.za
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