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PREPARING SOUTH AFRICA FOR THE WORLD |
Jens Weinreich is an investigative freelance journalist. His specialist areas arethe international politics of sport, the International Olympics Committee, FIFA and corruption in sport. Until 2008 he was the editor of Berliner Zeitung and the head of the sports section during the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He was voted Germany's sports-journalist of the year as well as the online-journalist of the year (2008). Weinreich (www.jensweinreich.de) has conducted seminars on behalf of the Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. Project 2010 asked him….  The 2006 World Cup was a fantastic success - can South Africa hope to compete or will 2010 be a letdown? Hosting mega-events like this it is never a question of competing with other hosts. Every event is different, every country is different. You can't compare Germany and South Africa in terms of general infrastructure. There is always a huge plus on the German side. So, I do think SA has to provide the necessary conditions which are documented in FIFA's papers. Concentrate on your own tasks, on your own turf, that's it. It is a gigantic project. In my point of view it is almost useless to look back to Germany. Yes, use the German resources and the knowledge of officials like Horst R. Schmidt who has organised the WC 2006 and is now the FIFA special advisor for the WC 2010. But don't compare too much. It does not make sense. There are obviously valuable lessons South Africa can take from Germany as the hosts of the last World Cup. Can you identify the main ones? As I said before, every World Cup is different. The conditions are different. At the end of the day, the success of a World Cup will always be a sensitive mixture of organisational skills, of the quality of the stadia, the infrastructure, the transport system, accommodation and the performance of the teams. The security question is also extremely important and, don't laugh at me, the weather. There was a summer of a century in Germany in June/July 2006. You can hardly organise good weather. What does it mean for a WC organizer? You have to fulfill a gigantic task - and then you have to pray. You will need luck. Just one example more: If there will be incidents like at the World Cup draw in Durban in December 2007, when a former Austrian football player (and friend of Franz Beckenbauer) was murdered, those incidents can overshadow the hole WC 2010. The risks are extremely high. It is a volatile task. Can you give us a sense of how Germany is viewing South Africa's preparations - is there a sense of optimism? I do think in general there is an overwhelming sympathy for South Africa in the German public. Just because of your development in the early 90s. Personally, I was always behind African countries during different World Cups. Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire. Of course, it always ended up with bitter feelings. But this is just the sports aspect. I was always in favor of hosting a mega-event on African soil. I was behind the South African bid, even when they lost against Germany for 2006. There was no fair decision at all: South Africa must have had won, the circumstances of New Zealand's FIFA delegate Charles Dempsey were never cleared. But coming back to the present, I am sorry to say this, but if I try to summarise the German media coverage of South Africa, I have the impression that it is dominated by five points: violence, violence, violence, corruption and political instability. I do think it will influence the tourist sector in advance and during the World Cup. What did you hope to achieve with your seminars in South Africa? I wanted to learn from my African colleagues. I would like to share experiences and knowledge. I have covered eight Olympic Games and dozens of World Championships in football, athletics, swimming and other Olympic sports. I am always trying to describe the backgrounds and investigate. My message to South African journalists is very simple and grounded on a few basic journalistic tasks: do your homework, study the documents, try to understand the business, research, investigate, don't believe the promises of your government, the Organising Committee and FIFA - check it. There are too many promises around made by organisers and the government. Please, don't expect too much. Follow the money, follow the ticket path - and you will get a lot of wonderful stories: Who pays, who gets the profit - find it out. Connect yourself in a digital world with investigative journalists in other countries. Share your knowledge and research results. Make things transparent. And please, don't forget: Yes, a World Cup can be a big party, but it can never solve problems of a society, not at all. That is a historic lesson from other mega-events. Don't expect too much. Don't promise your costumers too much. Celebrate a little bit, but don't lose road contact. more interviews...
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