13 July 2010
As Fifa president Sepp Blatter gave South Africa a near-perfect 9 out of 10 for its hosting of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, analysts said the spin-offs of improved perceptions abroad could have a long-lasting impact not only on South Africa and its development but on the continent as a whole.
“You have shown the world that you can achieve anything and its time now that you show the rest of Africa that it can achieve anything,” Blatter told South Africa at a post-tournament press conference in Johannesburg on Monday.
“There were many pessimists in the beginning, but as I always said it is a question of trust and confidence, and we trusted South Africa and they have delivered.
“South Africa has not only managed to stage a incident-free world cup, it has left a good impression to the people of the world, and you can be proud of that; the compliments should go to you, not to Fifa.”
Despite the elimination of Bafana Bafana in the first round of the tournament, the ambience and excitement of the competition continued among South Africans, who made the event a resounding success, Blatter said.
Viewership, attendance
Several records were achieved during the 30-day event, including never-seen-before television viewership figures. The number of people who attended the 64 matches at stadiums stood at just over 3.1-million, the 3rd highest in the history of the World Cup.
It has been estimated that the tournament created up to 695 000 jobs and had a gross impact of R94-billion on South Africa’s economy.
More than 500 000 tourists are confirmed to have visited the country to watch or to be part of the tournament, higher than the initial estimation of about 450 000 expected visitors.
The country now plans to bid for the 2020 Olympic Games, and the success of the World Cup is said to have bolstered these plans.
Shifting perceptions
Analysts say the indirect spin-offs from improved perceptions abroad could have an even greater, longer-lasting impact, not only on South Africa and its development but on the continent as a whole.
The successful World Cup could help shift the perceptions that a large number of foreign investors have held of Africa, while the infrastructure that has been created as a result of the World Cup is expected to assist the country’s long- and short-term development goals.
“It is infrastructure like Soccer City that will tell many people that this World Cup for us has really been an investment more than anything else,” said Local Organising Committee Chairperson Irvin Khoza.
He said that having this infrastructure and the success of the World Cup would end the perception that in Africa “you cannot get things done”.
“What this World Cup has done is to eliminate all the [mis]perceptions the world had of us, and the iconic nature of our infrastructure, not only the stadiums but also transport, will send a message to the [world’s] sporting bodies that they can rely on this country for any future sporting event,” Khoza said.
Source: BuaNews
