The South African 2010 bid company has obtained sponsorship to the tune of R80-million to support its efforts to secure the World Cup.
The people given the responsibility for promoting this bid, Danny Jordaan and Irvin Khoza, have been putting all their efforts into securing the bid. SABMiller is excited by this adventure and is aiding the organisers with a sponsorship of R12-million.
SABMiller is no stranger to soccer in South Africa, sponsoring the Castle Premier Soccer League (R7,2-million a year), a regional league and the regional knockout competition known as the Council of Southern African Football Association (Cosafa) Cup.
Castle Lager sponsorship activation manager Ponga Liwewe says: ‘It is essential that we get behind the bid as the Castle brand is synonymous with football and we have been in partnership with South African soccer for six decades now.”
The first opportunity for SABMiller to gain access to an international audience was when South Africa was readmitted to world sport. Liwewe says the right vehicle to promote the Castle brand was football. The brand has grown because of football in Africa and around the world.
Liwewe says: ‘For us the 2010 bid will enable the Castle brand to reflect South Africa and also take football forward.” The benefits of the tournament coming to South Africa are huge, he says.
‘This will give the country an opportunity to show the world our abilities — that the African continent is not all about war — and job-creation opportunities, and will bring a lot of money to South Africa.”
The South African brewery says it wants to ensure it plays a role in bringing all these benefits to the country and to the continent.
For many people in Africa soccer is more than just a game — it is part of life — and SABMiller feels obliged to be part of the 2010 bid. The association with the bid will give the sponsor a platform for its brand around the world.
SABMiller is confident that it is backing the right horse and that the 2010 World Cup is coming to South Africa.
But Liwewe warns that the bid people should guard against complacency and the politics of football in Africa.
The much-travelled activation manager highlights the strong points of the South African bid: that we have existing infra- structure and have experience in hosting world events such as the Non-Aligned Movement Summit, the cricket and rugby World Cups, the international Aids conference and the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Liwewe says that he has followed football for some time in Africa and has visited some of the bidding countries. He believes the bid book will be one of the keys in securing the 2010 World Cup for South Africa.
He says the bid people should be wary of Morocco, which is also a strong contender — this will be its fourth attempt to secure the World Cup.