For the very first time in history the FIFA World Cup is going to happen on African soil, and South African’s areholding their breath in eager anticipating for the inauguration of the event. Four brand new stadiums are being constructed, and the government has invested almost $1 billion in infrastructure improvements. FIFA has already secured sponsorships exceeding $3 billion, the biggest total to date for any World Cup. Forty four million South Africans of all walks of life await the possibility to show their country to the world, and people around the globe awaits a chance to see Africa like never before.
South Africa is considered an industrialized nation with a diverse combination of inhabitants speaking 11 official languages, that along with India and China, is in consideration for inclusion into the G-8 group of leading industrialized countries. Soccer is the most watched sport in the country, and along with other popular sports such as cricket and rugby, showcases the country’s robust sports tradition. Featuring 16 high profile teams, the Premier Soccer League takes part in the Champion’s League tournament of African clubs. Star South Africans in soccer include Quinton Fortune, Benni McCarthy and Aaron Mokoena, all currently players for Manchester United.
Apartheid certainly shackeled the South African national team with many restrictions and that has only recently started to come back into it is own, qualifying for the 1998 and 2002 FIFA Cups. In 1996, “Bafana Bafana” accomplished their best yet success by winning the African Cup of Nations. For the 2010 World Cup South Africa will automatically qualify as the host nation. Nevertheless, South Africa’s fans are equally passionate as those from other continents.
Being the first time such an event will be hosted on the African continent, some of the distinctive challenges faced by South Africa and the African continent will come to light. The nation still struggles with serious economic, social and health problems, but large improvements has been made since democratization in 1994. Point in fact, the FIFA inspectors rated South Africa as being able to organize an “excellent” World Cup based on the assessment of hospitality, medical, transport and security infrastructure, and the 2010 World Cup promises to showcase the strengths of this one-of-a-kind country.
