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PREPARING SOUTH AFRICA FOR THE WORLD |
Jerome Valcke was appointed the head of marketing at FIFA in 2003. He now holds the position of general secretary of the governing body which makes him the second most powerful football administrator in the world. Valcke is actively involved in overseeing South Africa's preparations for the 2010 World Cup. Project 2010 asked him….  Every World Cup obviously poses its own challenges, problems and obstacles and obviously South Africa is unique. Looking at the political situation, as you know we are going through a fair amount of uncertainty with the elections next year. There is discord within the high ranks of the ruling African National Congress. Does that ever weigh on your mind with the organisation of an event of this magnitude, or do you keep it separate? No, we keep it separate. It is true that when there are problems we ask a few questions. Our main concern is to ensure that the LOC will remain as it is today, so there will not be a change of the members in 2009 who know nothing about football, who have not been following what we have done over the past four or five years. We got this confirmation and the commitment from (ANC President) Jacob Zuma and from the ANC that whatever happens in 2009, that will be the case. So that's our main concern. We are not entering into any political debate. That's not our problem. What is your priority then? Our priority is to make sure that the commitment made by South Africa to support the World Cup will be fulfilled whatever is happening at a political level. There is also a lot of uncertainty in how the SADC states will benefit from 2010. We've heard about camps for visiting teams. They all have 2010 programmes in place. They're hoping to capitalise on 2010. What role do you see southern African countries playing in this World Cup? I think what 2010 brings to Africa through the programme 'Win in Africa With Africa' is all the potential the event will have in each of the African countries. It will give to each African country a stadium and a pitch where they will be able to play their top matches to qualify for the different national team events, including the World Cup. It's tough to say exactly how the countries around South Africa will benefit. Maybe they will have teams coming there. It does not really depend on us. What we can do is to make sure that we'll give them access to those countries, but it's their choice. In the end, if they want to stay close to where they are playing their matches, that's their choice. more interviews... |
