FIFA 2010 soccer world cup in south Africa: an analysis of the perception of public sector workers in KZN, Durban
Date
2011
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Abstract
Football in South Africa can be traced back to the 19th century and the first recognized club was formed as early as 1879 under the title of Pietermaritzburg Country. The South African Football Association (SAFA) was set up in 1882, but after 100 years it was reconstituted under its first name to represent all country’s diverse communities. A national team first represented South Africa in England in 1897 and secondly in America
Racial integration in football has always been a source of pride with the sport helping to break the apartheid barriers. The South African Soccer Federation (SAFA), which led the campaign against segregated sport and received its first major boost in Paris in 1955 when the International Olympics acknowledged and recorded that discrimination against “non white” sportspeople in South Africa existed. Professional soccer was introduced to South Africa in 1959 with the formation of the National Football League (NPSL). In 1971, the National Professional Soccer League came into existence with Orlando Pirates crowned as the first national champions. Today the Professional League is known as Premier Soccer League and they are still sprinkling clubs from the first league in 1971 playing in the top flights.
The South African Football Association was founded on 8 December 1991.South Africa achieved a remarkable success with qualification for 1998 FIFA World Cup finals in France. (Adam Ward: 2000)
In 1998, at Africa Cup of Nations final in Burkina Faso, the South African Football Association (SAFA) signaled its interest to launch a bid to host the 2006 FIFA Soccer World Cup finals. This followed in the wake of South Africa’s successful hosting of the two World games, Rugby World Cup in1995 and Africa Cup of Nations in1996.The two sports came at a particularly fundamental moment in the reconciliation and nation building efforts of post apartheid government and they resonated strongly in the domestic sphere. The tournament has been a showcase of the continent’s talent to the rest of the world and without doubt lifted the awareness and contributed to a greater appreciation of the game of soccer within the context of Africa. (Mark Gleeson: 1999)
FIFA chooses which country will host a World Cup tournament. Being the host is a big deal. New stadia have to be built and infrastructure to be developed. Extra police are needed to keep things running smoothly. South Africa hosted 2010 games and Brazil will be hosting 2014 games.
The focus of the study is to examine the perceptions of the public sector workers towards the potential impacts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in terms of benefits and potential challenges. There are various advantages that can be achieved from hosting such advantageous event hence people need to be aware of such advantages in order to benefit from them. On the other hand there are potential problems in hosting such big event.
In 1972 terrorist attack in Germany Olympics had left the sporting community shocked. Though there are many benefits in hosting a 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup there are also many problems that are challenging South Africa such as crime and technological challenges. The greatest benefits that we (South Africans) and the Global Community need to learn is, what lesson can be learned by using sport as a yardstick for unity and what lesson can other Countries learn from South Africa as a united rainbow nation?
Description
Thesis presented in fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Masters of Politics and Public Administration (Department of Politics and Public administration) at the
Zululand University, South Africa, 2011.
Keywords
FIFA World Cup, Public sector workers -- World cup -- South Africa