SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi
SOUTH AFRICA staged the Rugby World Cup last year, the leading cricket nations will gather here in 2003 to battle for supremacy and Cape Town wants to host the Olympic Games one year later.
Football has also got in on the act to a lesser extent, successfully staging the 1996 African Nations’ Cup following the drama caused by the last- minute withdrawal of defending champions Nigeria.
Now the South African Football Association has set its sights on the big one — the World Cup. France will be hosts in 1998, Japan and South Korea in 2002 and South Africa wants 2006.
Initially, hopes were high, especially after the godfather of international football, Joao Havelange, convinced President Mandela during a January visit to Johannesburg that the Rainbow Nation should seek the crock of gold.
What the Brazilian octogenarian probably omitted to tell Madiba is that he publicly backed the Japanese for the first finals of the next century and ended with a considerable amount of egg dripping from his face.
The problem with Havelange is he belongs to a rapidly diminishing band of dictators who brook no opposition and football officials are growing increasingly tired of a man many believe is way past his sell-by date.
Many international observers believe South African hopes could hinge on whether Havelange can hold off the threat of European supremo Lennart Johansson in 1998 and win another four-year term as Fifa president.
Germany and England are considering bidding for the 2006 finals, whose hosts will be named in 2000, and if Johansson, a Swede who obviously loves his food, occupies the hot seat, their chances will be greatly enhanced.
South African football, a body that tends to be reactive rather than proactive, should also be aware that the first shots in the propaganda war have been fired.
The Daily Telegraph is a quality English newspaper read by millions of people and its recent sports pages included a prominently placed sports column by one Robert Hardman.
After bemoaning the fact that England might once again lose out to traditional rivals Germany, Hardman dismisses the South Americans and Africans as paupers at a banquet.
“South Africa is keen and can point to the Rugby World Cup,” he wrote, “but its staging of Africa’s Euro 96 equivalent was not deemed a success and there are doubts about its suitability for a 32- nation World Cup.
“If the Germans can be persuaded to settle for the 2004 European Championship then football will come home again in 10 years. So don’t throw away the plastic hat, the flag, and the boastful T-shirt just yet.”
Football Association chief executive Graham Kelly was equally dismissive of an African country hosting the finals. “That’s on the backburner. As I gauge it, Africa will be persuaded to wait a while.”
What bias. What cheek. Wait until when … the 22nd century? South Africa has the infrastructure, the communications and the stadiums. But they better put some oil in the propaganda machine lest they get left behind at the starting stalls.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) also needs to make its mind up regarding a 2006 candidate because Morocco (beaten by the United States for the 1994 finals and France for 1998) and Egypt are expressing interest.
While co-hosting was forced on South Korea and Japan to prevent even greater bitterness among the Asian economic giants, it would make a lot of sense in cash-conscious Africa.
Morocco and Egypt boast modern infrastructure in their main centres, but lie at the other end of the continent, making co-hosting with South Africa impossible unless FIFA hijack a few Concordes.
A more realistic possibility might be for South Africa to share the World Cup with Zimbabwe and other countries in the region who are prepared to build new stadiums.
Harare and Bulwayo successfully staged the 1995 All- Africa Games football tournament and are due to host the 2000 African Nations’ Cup. Each city is capable of hosting four World Cup teams.
That would leave six groups for South Africa with perhaps a couple of matches in Mbabane and Maseru to give the tournament a truly Southern African feel.