The 2010 FIFA World Cup will result in anticipated injection of about R21.3 Billion into the South African economy. Tourism will be able to cash-in on the 3 million or so visitors that will come to the country. Stadiums, airports, road and networks will be upgraded.
The success of the tournament will obviously also give South Africa and the rest of the continent an image makeover. This is what will obviously be key to sustainable social and economic upliftment in the longer term for the continent.
There will also be unexpected financial benefits for our soccer, I believe. Up until now, South Africa has been inviting the great teams of the world, both clubs and national teams, to play in tournaments such as The Nelson Mandela Challenge and Vodacom Challenge. However after the world cup these dynamics will shift somewhat. When the whole world sees our fabulous infrastructure, awesome sunny weather and stunning sports stadia it will be them calling us, not us calling them in the future.
The great clubs of this world will be jostling to stage pre-season training camps in this country. Whilst they are here it is only logical that they arrange prestige-friendlies against our local teams. This will not only be lucrative for our clubs, but will also give our players the valuable experience of competing against some of the world’s best players. This will significantly raise the profile of our local soccer. It will also be a business opportunity for our clubs as it will provide our players more opportunities to be ‘seen’ by these great teams and one or two exceptional talents could secure life-changing overseas contracts, with clubs pocketing the transfer fees.
This will have the added benefit of saving the likes of Patrice Motsepe having to fork out tens of millions to entice the Barcelonas of this world to come and play our local sides. And if they come in big numbers these prestige-friendlies will not be restricted to our big 4 teams of Gauteng. The games will be spread around to teams from the coast and Limpopo province.
There will be even other unexpected beneficiaries, like the advertising industry for example. It is beyond most marketers’ budgets to bring a soccer megastar to our shores for a campaign. But if they are here already a plan can be made. Proof of this is when the supermodel Naomi Campbell did Sales House a favour by reducing her fees to feature in an advertising campaign as a favour to Mandela. So let’s all do our bit to support the 2010 World Cup so that we can reap the financial and sporting benefits way into the future.
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