South Africa: time to be a good host!

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As South Africa gears up to host the world of football, South Africans are being called on to get behind their national football team, to be a part of the buzz around the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup and 2010 World Cup – and to be good hosts to the football fans that visit the country.

 

Ke nako. It’s time …

 

HOW TO BE A GREAT 2009 AND 2010 HOST

 

The 2010 Local Organising Committee, the International Marketing Council of South Africa (IMC) and South African Tourism have put their heads together and come up with six ways in which you can be a great 2009 and 2010 host.

 

They’re simple, they’re fun do, and they’ll make you part of the action that’s going to unfold between now and that final match at Soccer City, Johannesburg on Sunday, 11 July 2010. So the only question is …

 

What are you doing to be a good host in 2009 and 2010?

1. Be informed

 

Know what’s going down in your own backyard. For pretty much everything you might need to know – about the teams, the venues, the dates, the host cities, the work that’s going in to get the country geared – check out:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Support our country

 

Learn to sing the national anthem. Fly the national flag. We’re footballing into the future – don’t be left behind!

 

 

 

 

 

3. Support our team, support our players

 

We did it in 1996, and Bafana Bafana came out of international isolation to win the African Cup of Nations. Co-hosts South Korea got behind their team in 2002, and their team responded by upsetting favourites Spain in the quarterfinals to become the first Asian team to reach the World Cup semifinals.

 

Germany did the same in 2006, and their team – previously written off at home and abroad – went as far as extra time in the semifinals before bowing out to eventual tournament winners Italy.

 

 

  • Bafana Bafana for the Confederations Cup semifinals – “win two to go through” – yes, we can!

 

 

All you Gunners and Red Devils fans in SA – support Man U/Arsenal and a PSL team!

 

 

 

 

Find out more about Bafana Bafana:

 

 

 

 

4. Learn to blow a vuvuzela …

 

… Get yourself a makarapa. Wear a Zakumi badge. Follow the games. Talk about them over a pap ‘n vleis braai. Get interested. Do any of these things in the spirit of Bafana, and you can count yourself a Bafana Bafana fan!

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Learn to do the diski dance!

 

Forget the macarena. Forget the moonwalk, or the new move reportedly planned for Michael Jackson’s comeback. South Africa’s own diski dance is set to get the world jiving to an African rhythm in June 2009 and 2010. So drop your inhibitions and get in the diski groove!

 

 

 

 

 

6. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO to a game!

 

Buy yourself and your kids/granddad/partner/buddy tickets to a Confederations Cup match. Maybe you’re the CEO? Buy tickets for your staff – it’ll be the best (and cheapest) corporate bonding outing you ever organised!

 

 

 

 

And when you go to a game, gents, it’s time to …

 

7. Do things THE RIGHT WAY

 

 

  • Get to the stadium at least an hour before kickoff time.

 

  • Check your ticket, know your number, and sit in your designated seat.

 

  • Keep all access stairways and emergency exits clear at all times.

 

  • Stay out of restricted areas within the stadium.

 

  • Co-operate during security inspections and body checks.

 

  • Co-operate if asked to move to other seats for security reasons.

 

  • Only smoke in designated areas.

 

  • Don’t bring bottles or other “cellular” to the stadium (if you know what we’re talking about, then we’re talking to you!)

 

 

Article last updated: May 2009

 

SAinfo reporter

 

 

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