Hosting a memorable Soccer World Cup might just banish Afro-pessimism, Sport Minister Makhenkesi Stofile said on Tuesday.
He said the improvement of football management would go a long way in improving Africa’s image.
”For as long as we are perceived as this corrupt people who cannot manage anything … this Afro-pessimism will not go away,” he said.
Speaking at a workshop on the 2010 World Cup African legacy programmes, Stofile said sport administrators could take lessons from the New Partnership for Africa’s Development programme.
Good managerial skills, sound financial management skills and overall good governance could bring a sport renaissance, Stofile said.
He said a better-managed football association should be one of the legacies of the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
”We must improve our leagues [and] the management of those leagues if we want to improve the quality of our teams and regain our players [from Europe].
”This is an opportunity to show the world that we are as good as anyone else; we, the African team, must try enforce this in the mind of the world,” Stofile said. — Sapa