| Turf war only legacy of WC 2010? – 29/11/2010 |
Pinky Khoabane: We all know by now that the World Cup was a kick in the nuts for the poor. Once they had been used to secure the event, football’s governing body, Fifa, made every effort to ensure that poor people remained well out of sight of the tourists. We’ve also come to hear a lot about the multibillion-rand stadiums that have become white elephants, with questions being asked about their financial viability. The other sporting codes are not particularly interested in using the stadiums either. In a parliamentary briefing on the future of World Cup stadiums, Cricket South Africa complained about the size of the stadiums, which it said made them unsuitable for cricket. And, in a rather interesting development - which you’d have thought Danny Jordaan would have been privy to - it emerged that even Safa does not believe in the financial viability of the stadiums. Billions of rands later, what can we truly point to as the World Cup 2010’s football legacy?
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Full column in The Times
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| Qatar bid is heated insanity – 29/11/2010 |
Carlos Amato: The World Cup voting plot is thickening by the second. Many bookmakers are unwilling to offer odds, struggling to rank the contenders with much confidence in either the 2018 or 2022 hosting races. One thing’s for sure: money will talk, in a language of its choosing. Leaving aside the degree of corruptibility of Fifa’s surviving executive committee members, the legitimate commercial potential of each bid should theoretically be the biggest deciding factor. But the commercial interests of Fifa’s confederations don’t overlap. And cultural factors can leap off the bench in unpredictable ways.
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Full Sunday Times column
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| Irony sinks into leather couch – 09/11/2010 |
David Shapiro: The Fifa World Cup final was a little over three months ago, yet it seems like a dream from the distant past. It’s difficult to determine whether there has been or will be any economic rub-off. Circumstances have certainly conspired against us. The global economy remains under pressure; still, in spite of that, our currency continues to strengthen, a consequence of huge portfolio flows from foreign money managers attempting to escape a plunging US dollar.
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Full column in The Times
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| Why Australia won’t host 2022 World Cup – 08/11/2010 |
Adam Santarossa, The Roar: As a ’true-blue’ Aussie and lover of football, there is nothing more I would love to see than Australia winning the right to host a World Cup. If I was a betting man, I’d definitely splash some cash on Australia hosting the World Cup… one day. Just not in 2022. Whilst Frank Lowy and many football followers here in Australia remain optimistic, I have to say I am not. I feel the 2022 World Cup will go to the USA, for many valid reasons.
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Full column in The Roar
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| South Africa’s football lesson – 31/10/2010 |
Simon Kuper, Financial Times: Brazil can learn from South Africa’s mistakes. So can the countries bidding to host the World Cups of 2018 and 2022. (The winners will be chosen on December 2, unless scandals delay the vote.) Hosts need to understand what a World Cup is: a party. It leaves nothing behind except a hangover, good memories and a large bill. Every host of a World Cup or Olympics ritually claims that the tournament will be ’an economic bonanza’. South Africa said this non-stop.
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Full Financial Times column
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| All that goodwill and glow left to trickle out of play – 27/09/2010 |
Luke Alfred, Sunday Times: I suspect all of us assumed the World Cup would usher in something special in the local sporting world.
Stardust would miraculously attach itself to our soccer after the big top moved to Brazil. Crowds would flow through the turnstiles, the football - played on immaculate World Cup pitches - would mirror that of the World Cup teams. The sense of drama and pageantry and occasion would be reproduced, on a smaller scale. But the further we have come from the World Cup, the less it looks like it ever happened. Now, from the vantage point of late September 2010, it looks more like a collective hallucination than a collective experience.
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Full Sunday Times column
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| 2010 WC lives on – 22/09/2010 |
Khaya Ndubane, iafrica.com: With local football teams and the PSL still puzzled by the dwindling support during the first few weeks of the Absa Premiership it was encouraging to see that foreign interest in SA soccer is still there. The 2010 World Cup is long gone, but the legacy that this world showpiece has left behind is enormous, as was evident when I was approached by two German students to do job shadowing at our offices, with their main objective being to learn more about South African football. Like many foreign students, Daniel Overbeck and Hauke Hastedt, have limited knowledge about South African soccer, but they know the big teams like Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, and of course, they also know South African stars like Steven Pienaar and Benni McCarthy, who play abroad.
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Full iafrica.com column
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| Keeping our eye on the ball – 20/09/2010 |
Mondli Makhanya, The Times: The train to Soccer City during the World Cup was always a magical experience. From the spirit in the Braamfontein traffic to the camaraderie and cajoling on the platform and the singing on the train, it was exhilarating. (For the record, I didn’t do any singing myself.) The most amazing day on the train to Soccer City had to be the day of the Ghana-Uruguay quarterfinal. That was when South Africans decided to become Ghanaians and united around the Black Stars like they had never done around domestic causes. It was quite a sight seeing Afrikaners draped in Ghanaian flags, their faces painted in that nation’s colours and rattling off patriotically about their adoptive country. It was a beautiful moment that, more than any other, captured the gees of World Cup 2010.
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Full column in The Times
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| Dark Valley follows WC euphoria – 28/08/2010 |
The Dispatch: Coming from the giddy mountain top thrill of the World Cup, South Africa seems to have plunged into a dark valley – for a number of reasons.
We remain mired in an unresolved public sector strike – one marred by death, intolerance, violence and intimidation. The costs of the final settlement – when it eventually must happen – is also likely to strangle the breath out of the taxpayer.
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Read the full editorial
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| Jordaan lets the nation down – 25/08/2010 |
Kevin McCallum, IoL: Danny Jordaan has let the nation down. He had a gift-wrapped chance to make the leader - well, the deputy leader as the boss was watching his missus have a baby in Cornwall - of one of the world’s superpowers squirm and blush, and he passed on it. Jordaan was in England as part of a six-man Fifa inspection team to eat expensive dinners, pose outside the front door of No 10 Downing Street with deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and say no thanks to offers of expensive handbags for their wives or trips and other gifts.
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Full column on the IoL site
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| World Cup a great teacher – 22/08/2010 |
Jackie May, The Times: It has been six weeks since the winning team left our shores, and with it most of the excitement of the World Cup. But not in this suburban Joburg home. Not only is the baby of the house honing her soccer skills, my son has gone completely ball mad. If he weren’t only four, he might be certifiable. He got the boots (which a few days later fell from the roof of a moving car). He has joined the Little Kickers soccer school. He is not shy to ask anybody to play soccer with him. Friends small and big are persuaded to endlessly kick ball . It’s not bad for a tiny person. I give credit to Sepp Blatter and his Fifa team for fast-forwarding my child’s general knowledge, and acquiring a lifelong fan of their tournament, and of the beautiful game.
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Full column in The Times
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| Politicians praise SA’s WC success – 19/08/2010 |
Political parties across the spectrum have echoed President Jacob Zuma’s praise for South Africans, attributing the success of the 2010 World Cup to their patriotic spirit and passion. During a joint sitting of Parliament to debate the successful hosting of the 2010 World Cup, the people of South Africa emerged as the true stars of the tournament and were lauded for their contribution by the President and political parties. DA leader and Premier of the Western Cape Helen Zille said the single greatest achievement of the World Cup was the way it had changed stereotypes.
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Full press release
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| World Cup self-praise dishonest – 06/08/2010World |
Meshack Mabogoane, The Sowetan: The ’feel it, we did it’ shouts - in spite of the skeptics or naysayers, so it is said - cannot, however, be allowed to prevail as this is largely a mirage. A major reason for the cynicism was the recent and widely reported demonstrations against failure to deliver basic services.
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Full column in The Sowetan column
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| Who really won World Cup? – 02/08/2010 |
David Shapiro, The Times: We are bang in the middle of the June reporting season. As I have often stated, one learns more from corporate performances about the health of an economy than from a chain of official statistics. Academically, I was interested to determine whether the World Cup had contributed meaningfully to the bottom line of a number of local companies - building and construction apart - that were identified by the investment community as frontrunners to benefit from the expected rise in spending. In summary, the results have disappointed, but it’s hardly a surprise. Famous Brands, the franchisors of popular food outlets like Wimpy, Steers and Debonair Pizzas, easily topped the bunch.
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Full column in The Timesin
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| Should the US Really Try to Host Another World Cup? – 29/07/2010 |
Stephen Dubner, The New York Times: There is a good section in the book Soccernomics about the economic impact studies that cities and countries sponsor when they are hoping to host a huge sporting event like the World Cup or the Olympics. The gist of it is that you can make an economic impact study say pretty much whatever you want, since it’s an exercise in speculation, and that the economists hired by bid committees make sure the numbers say yes. The truth, however, is that most such events don’t provide much economic stimulus, and often turn out to be money losers.
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Full column in The New York Times
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| Don’t let our pride fizzle out – 25/07/2010rsquo |
Craig Arendse, Cape Argus: If national pride is measured in flag visibility, South Africa has surely blasted off the scales of the national pride barometer. The 2010 World Cup has been nothing less than a momentous success, and while some are concerned that the current groundswell of patriotism will fizzle out into a listless hangover now that the tournament is over, there is much hope that the country, organisations and businesses can continue to leverage off it for years to come. After all, times when whole populations - especially those as diverse as ours - come together in a true show of national unity are rare. They are to be savoured and celebrated, but more importantly, to be learnt from.
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Full Cape Argus column
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| South African, you suck! - 21/07/2010 |
Khaya Dlanga, News24: What a royal disappointment you lot are. Who the hell do you think you are to host a successful World Cup? I don’t know why you are busy patting yourselves in the back and walking around with your chests out. You were supposed to fail and you didn’t. When it comes to being a failure, you failed. What you did during the World Cup was under-whelming. You were meant to make the most embarrassing spectacle of yourselves, but oh no, not you, you decided you were above that. What were you thinking?
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Full column on the News24 site
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| Hunt reflects on last four games – 15/07/2010 |
Gavin Hunt, IoL: Well it’s all over and done with now, but let’s reflect on the last four games. I was very disappointed with the Germans in the semifinal game. I really thought they might have had the beating of the Spanish team, but a big blow for the Germans was the loss of Thomas Mueller. He gave them the penetration, creativity and goals that they lacked in that game. I certainly felt that the central midfield of Germany, who had dominated most of their previous games, were outplayed in that semifinal clash.
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Full column on the IoL site
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| Yes, South Africa can – 12/07/2010 |
John Carlin, Saturday Star: It’s been a spectacular success. Everything according to plan, smooth as silk; South Africa successfully re-branded; no unpleasant surprises, and plenty of pleasant ones. Not a cheep, for example, out of the ludicrous Julius Malema, who the ANC wisely locked up in the attic, as you do with the mad live-in relative when important guests come around. No reports of any new Zuma off-spring, or even wife. As for the bigger and far more important picture, the games all started on time and were broadcast live around the world without a hitch (though I gather there were some power-cut problems in England ’mercifully, perhaps’ during one of their national team’s relentlessly hapless displays). No massacres of foreign visitors, either, as long advertised in the foreign press. Crime generally seems to have sunk to Swiss levels of innocuousness during South Africa’s four-week World Cup honeymoon.
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Full Saturday Star report
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| Does soccer need technology – 06/07/2010 |
Mark Gleeson, Mail & Guardian: The chaotic end to Friday’s game at Soccer City will go down in the legend of the tournament - both the handball on the line, almost a volleyball-style scoop to stop the ball entering the goal, and then the fact that Asamoah Gyan missed the kick. A Ghana-Holland semifinal would have had the Mother City buzzing, although the orange-clad Dutch supporters are still doing their best to ensure a carnival atmosphere ahead of the game. There should be very little sympathy for the South Americans at the Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday night; indeed, there is likely to be plenty of derision for the locals when they come out to take to the field.
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Full Mail & Guardian column&
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| Is Blatter’s U-turn for real? - 30/06/2010 |
John Leicester, IoL: FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s apparent U-turn on the possible introduction of technology to help referees should be taken with a pinch of salt. Maybe he really is having a genuine change of heart, in which case, hooray. Or, perhaps more likely, his sudden reversal is just for show. The reason for the scepticism is that Blatter and FIFA have long been on the frontline of resistance to technological aids that could help referees make fewer blunders, including at this World Cup.
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Full column on the IOL site
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| Laugh might be on SA as big WC spenders depart - 30/06/2010 |
Quentin Wray, Business Report: When Asamoah Gyan put Ghana ahead of the US in the third minute of extra time in Rustenberg on Saturday night, South Africans rose as one in solidarity with their African brothers. And as the Black Stars clung desperately to their lead for the next half hour, we were on the edge of our seats. The final whistle eventually blew and we roared our approval and relief: an African team was through to the final eight in Africa’s World Cup.
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Full Business Report column
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| Sponsors spoiling the 2010 broth - 28/06/2010 |
Chris Moerdyk, News24: FIFA sponsors, partners and national supporters have paid hundreds of millions of rands for the privilege of being exclusively associated with the biggest global event in the history of mankind.In turn, FIFA, has not only implemented draconian rules and regulations to protect this exclusivity, but has convinced the South African government to enact ambush marketing laws and spend R45m on special courts to punish offenders on the spot.
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Full column on the News24 sitecolumn
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| Sepp Blatter must be squirming - 28/06/2010must |
John Leicester, Mail and Guardian: Why is it that the FIFA boss uses modern technology when it suits him - to burnish his public persona by tweeting, for example - but not when it would do some good for global football, the game whose interests he is meant to be taking care of? Blatter merrily tweeted on Sunday that he was on his way to the historically charged World Cup match between Germany and England. Since he was at the Free State Stadium, we must assume that he saw the Blunder of Bloemfontein with his own eyes. It was impossible to miss - unless you were a linesman from Uruguay called Mauricio Espinosa.
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Full column on the Mail and Guardian site
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| Lets keep the spirit alive – 27/06/2010 |
Mondli Makhanya, Sunday Times: Even the most hardened cynics have been wet-eyed in the past few weeks as we witnessed South Africans come together to embrace their common nationhood. Never before in the history of our nation have we walked as one as we have in the past few weeks. If you count the number of times the word ’we’ enters conversations these days, you will realise that something has happened to this place. We are thinking and feeling like a nation again. During Bafana’s hot and cold performance in the World Cup’s opening stages, we all held our breath as one, gasped as one, celebrated as one and felt a collective pain on that cold and cruel Wednesday evening last week. All because of this phenomenon called football.
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Full column on the Times Live site
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| Not all waving flags at the WC – 18/06/2010 |
Sokari Ekine, allAfrica.com: FIFA decides and controls everything around the World Cup - they are owners of the event from decisions on who gets advertised, WC products, music, what takes place in and outside the stadium, the food which is sold, where the teams stay and even words. FIFA actually own words and phrases and have managed to persuade the government to suspend the right to protest. South Africa is simply the host with no real powers.
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Full column on the allAfrica.com site
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| Secretly, Match blames South Africa - 15/06/2010 |
Ivo Vegter, Daily Maverick: The contempt in which Fifa and Match hold South Africans is astounding. Still, we’re an amazing country. It is here. If you don’t feel it, you’re deaf, blind and probably dead. There’s a lot to be said for the government’s original aim in bidding for the World Cup: To spur investment in football, which has for too long been a poor cousin alongside the wealthier national sports of cricket and rugby. Despite the inept, self-serving administration that has been the hallmark of South African football, the people’s sport deserves its moment in the sun and can use an injection of cash.
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Full Daily Maverick column
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| A victory for transparency – 14/06/2010 |
Adriaan Basson, Mail & Guardian: A year ago the M&G was tipped off that security arrangements for the Confederations Cup were in a shambles and that last-minute contracts were being signed with incompetent service providers. After South Africa won the right in 2004 to host the World Cup in 2010, security was always FIFA’s biggest concern. Not having sorted out basic security services at stadiums and hotels was naturally a massive problem and an indictment of the LOC.
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Full Mail & Guardian column
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| Blatter faces month of truth - 08/06/2010month |
Paul Kelso, The Telegraph: Africa’s first World Cup should be the finest achievement of a reign that, for all the riches earned, has left FIFA’s reputation battered and its president discredited in the eyes of many. Blatter has no intention of going quietly. Instead the 74-year-old Swiss is intent on securing a fourth term as president and a place alongside the great sporting dictators from whom he learned his trade, his predecessor Joao Havelange and former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch. Both those men wielded influence well into their dotage.
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Full column in The Telegraph
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| Home advantage our big hope – 07/06/2010 |
Marc Fletcher, The Guardian: The South African member of our World Cup fans’ network says Steven Pienaar can make a difference and the Confederation Cup showed what home advantage can do. South Africa team against Spain at 2009 Confederations Cup South Africa’s displays at the Confederations Cup last year showed what they can do with home advantage. The failure to qualify for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations was disastrous; losing 1-0 to Sierra Leone in 2008 the lowest point. In a run of 11 games in the latter half of 2009, Bafana’s only win was against Madagascar.
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Full column in The Guardiancolumn
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