South Africa Has Big Goals After Cup Success
^^
AND, another report from arguably the most influential newspaper in the world - The Wall Street Journal - which boasts more subscribers than any global newspaper and is regarded as authoritative internationally...
South Africa Has Big Goals After Cup Success
By ROBB M. STEWART And MATTHEW FUTTERMAN
JOHANNESBURG—South Africa defended itself against criticism about violent crime, disruptive labor strikes and lackluster organization ahead of the 2010 World Cup. Now the country is winning widespread praise after a successful tournament, boosting its ambitions to host other major sporting events.
"It's not the safest country and this was our problem," said Franz Beckenbauer, a member of FIFA's executive committee who was one of the people who acknowledged the challenges South Africa was facing in hosting the World Cup, which ended Sunday with Spain's 1-0 defeat of the Netherlands. "But this organizing committee, with help from FIFA, has done a very good job," said Mr. Beckenbauer, who won Cups as both a player and coach.
Absent from international competitions for most of its apartheid era due to sanctions, South Africa is just beginning to build a track record of staging sporting events. Part of that entails showing off infrastructure, winning over visitors and reversing what many describe as an image problem.
"The general view is that South Africa has done an excellent job in staging the World Cup. There have been far fewer, if any, issues than were expected," said Michael Payne, former chief marketing officer of the International Olympic Committee. "The fact that they have proved they can do this will be a very good calling card to go after other events."
Indeed, South Africa has been so encouraged by the response to the World Cup here that officials have set their sights on hosting the summer Olympics in 2020, possibly in the city of Durban. On Saturday, President Jacob Zuma met Jacques Rogge, who heads the International Olympic Committee.
"This has proved to the world that we are capable of hosting any international event. We have the resources and infrastructure," Mr. Zuma said.
South Africa may have been the first World Cup host to be knocked out after the first round, but that doesn't appear to have diminished interest in the event. Stadium attendance passed the three million mark with two games to be played, only the third time the World Cup has topped that figure, according to FIFA, the global soccer federation. (South Africa still lags behind U.S. in 1994 and Germany in 2006 for average attendance).
To be sure, the World Cup hasn't swept South Africa's problems away. The country is burdened with a bulging underclass—unemployment hovers at 25%—and violent crime remains a threat. Meanwhile, labor unrest poses a constant threat to event planners. The country endured a transportation strike just before the World Cup and South Africa's leading electricity supplier narrowly averted a work stoppage during the tournament.
And there have been a few significant organizational glitches for fans. A lack of public transportation caused massive traffic jams. On Wednesday, congestion at Durban's new airport caused hundreds of people, including a handful of FIFA executives, to miss Spain's semifinal 1-0 defeat of Germany. Stadium security workers also went on strike at four stadiums, prompting South Africa's police to assume security duties.
Still, South Africa is winning important converts. It previously staged successful rugby and cricket championships, and stepped in to host last year's popular Indian Premier League cricket tournament, after it was moved amid tensions during Indian elections. FIFA President Sepp Blatter said last week that if it can host a World Cup it can certainly organize the summer Olympics.
"Africa can be proud to have organized this World Cup. South Africa can be even prouder," Mr. Blatter said during a briefing in Johannesburg Thursday.
As the first World Cup to be hosted by an African country, this has very much been the continent's tournament. Many Africans have expressed hope that the continent as a whole will benefit from the mainly positive coverage of sport's most-watched spectacle. After 2016, Africa will be the only continent not to have hosted an Olympic Games.
"This has given a major lift to African football, not just because South Africa hosted but because Ghana did so well," said Neil Armstrong-Mortagbe, president of the Ghana supporters club and a consultant for the Ghana Football Association. Ghana was the only African team to reach the final group of eight.
Meanwhile, World Cup sponsors have used their presence in South Africa to target consumers from Cape Town to Cairo.
For Visa, which is also a top level Olympic sponsor, the move was part of efforts to open new markets in the developing world and in countries where the Olympic sports are far less popular than soccer such as in Africa, the Middle East and South America.
In anticipation of the World Cup, Visa was able to get its cards accepted with 14,000 merchants and in 200 malls across South Africa. Visa signed an eight-year, $180 million deal to become FIFA's exclusive world-wide banking partner in 2007.
"In an emerging market, you're trying to build an acceptance type of infrastructure and an event like this helps accelerate that," said Antonio Lucio, Visa's chief marketing officer. "If the Olympics or the World Cup come to Africa, we'll be there."
For some major brands, there is an expectation by customers they will sponsor the world's biggest sporting event and the business payoff is expected later. "The World Cup will come and go. The real test will be what happens after," said Don Thompson, president of McDonald's Corp., which has more than 130 restaurants in South Africa.
For many who associate Africa with war, poverty and AIDS, South Africa's World Cup has shown another side to the continent. The country boasts a transparent democracy, a rich class of consumers and a nationwide network of roads.
Now South African officials want to parlay that success into an Olympics bid, in part to find a use for the many stadiums that were built to host the World Cup.
In Durban, the new stadium has room for a track around the soccer field. It also has an iconic arch built above the top that can be scaled and is also accessible by cable car. The stadium's southern end is open and has a large empty platform that could serve as a stage for an Olympic torch.
Source:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704799604575356921189309144.html?mod=googlenews_wsj