June 11, Friday is a date that will stay in all Africans and also the many soccer fans worldwide as the day Africa comes to be the venue for the FIFA World Cup. For eighty years now the FIFA World Cup host countries have been in either Europe or the Americas. Just how is the location for a FIFA World Cup decided?Currently, the policy for selection is that any country can bid to be the venue for the World Cup guaranteed that their continent hasn’t hosted it in the past two years making Africa a good candidate. South Africa had a narrow loss against Germany in the 2006 bidding with 12 votes to 11 as the final tally. For the 2010 World Cup however, all countries that bid were African the top three being South Africa, Morocco and Egypt. South Africa won by four points to Morocco resulting in this unforgettable event. The reasons mentioned are all technical, but you might ask if the country has the ability to host such a huge event? If you’d ask me, I’d say they surely are, here are my reasons:
* I love their team- it’s a fact, the definitely deserve to hold the cup. Wouldn’t holding the Cup in a country who’s team isn’t even that good be a total let down? Look back at the countries that held the Cup-1950 (Brazil), 1978 (Argentina), and 1990 (Italy), some of the best teams in the world. Adding South Africa to the list would make sense.
* You should see the stadiums- as part of their preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa has constructed four brand new mind-blowing stadiums.One has a detractable glass roof, another with spectacular lighting, then there’s the ‘zebra’ inspired stadium located nearby the many game parks, and finally one that resembles the South African flag. Who could want more?
* Good weather- South Africa is well known for it’s good weather-aside from the wildlife. The World Football Tournament coincides with South Africa’s winter time. South Africa’s winter temperature at midday is warmer than most countries daily summer temperature so no need to worry that your favorite players will get frozen. The average temperature will be around 20 degrees Celsius at 12pm noon.Lower temperatures are known to be better for athlete’s bodies.Good weather equals higher tempo.
* The continent alone- soccer is no doubt in every African’s heart and Africa is known to be the place where civilization begun. So what better place to have countries from the four corners of the earth meet? More so since South Africa has used soccer as a means of unity and force against apartheid in the Mandela era. Having Soweto be the venue for the finals will add meaning and make the even even more memorable for the reason that Soweto has been the heart of South African soccer.
The whole world should be happy that an event of this magnitude is being held in Africa for the first time and no matter how many issues regarding safety have popped up in the past four years, I think the 2010 FIFA World Cup deserve to be held in South Africa.
Tags: entertainment, football, recreation and sports, soccer