One thousand days before the most popular show on earth rolls into Africa for the first time, the 2010 Soccer World Cup hosts face a mammoth task in organising the extravaganza and silencing party-poopers.
Delays to stadium construction, questions over transport and accommodation and nervousness over safety in one of the world’s most crime-ridden societies have left South Africa constantly having to reassure that all will be right on the night of June 11 when the tournament kicks off in Johannesburg.
A year ago, even Fifa president Sepp Blatter appeared to be having second thoughts when he said he wanted to see more ”pickaxes and shovels” in action at the 10 venues that will host matches.
But on a visit to the country in June, Blatter’s fears appear to have been largely assuaged and he attributed the lingering doubts to envy.
”To organise the World Cup in South Africa, there’s a lot of jealousy because people say they can also do it somewhere else. They cannot because it will be a wonderful World Cup,” he said.
Blatter’s trip included a site inspection of the under-construction Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, which is expected to host one of the two semifinals.
But a downing of tools last month in a dispute over travel allowances after legal disputes delayed the start of construction work highlighted the potential for timetables to slip in a country with a long history of union unrest.
South Africa, a sporting pariah before the demise of apartheid in 1994, has successfully staged the cricket and rugby world cups since it was brought back into the fold, but knows that the 450 000 foreign visitors expected during the tournament will provide a challenge of a completely different scale.
While the major cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban should be able to cope, relative backwaters such as Nelspruit and Polokwane know they have major work ahead.
”We are upgrading our roads, railway lines, with a new train station going to be built near the stadium, and we are increasing the capacity of the airport,” Differ Mogale, the 2010 coordinator in Nelspruit, told Agence France-Presse.
”This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us in the province to show the country and the world what we are capable of and we don’t want to let it slip.”
Electricity supplies remain erratic, especially during the winter months of June and July, while visitors to Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport can find themselves stuck for over an hour to have their passports stamped on entry.
Trevor Phillips, the outgoing chief executive of South Africa’s Premier Soccer League (PSL), believes there should be an acceptance that the competition will not run with the same efficiency as last year in Germany.
”What we should be doing is trying to make the World Cup experience uniquely African: where the bus comes 10 minutes late but nobody gives a toss because they are having such a good time,” he said in a recent interview.
The decision to award the tournament to South Africa in May 2004, which came after the bitter disappointment of a losing bid four years earlier, has been widely seen as an opportunity to showcase the whole continent.
Neighbouring countries such as Mozambique are hoping for spin-offs from not only tourists but also by hosting teams during the tournament.
Even Zimbabwe, whose political crisis has raised alarm bells within the organising committee, is planning a spruce-up in a bid to attract visitors.
Within South Africa, the tug of war over who should fit all the bills is likely to intensify as the clock ticks down and there are fears that it could be at the expense of tackling some of South Africa’s deep social problems.
Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu admitted earlier this year there was a danger her ministry’s demands for both cash and infrastructure ”could be completely wiped off the radar screen” as funds were diverted towards 2010.
The government is also aware the crime rate in a country, where about 50 people are murdered every day, must be tackled if the tournament is not to make headlines for the wrong reasons.
On the field, coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has an equally daunting task of producing a team to do the country proud. Bafana Bafana are currently ranked only the 13th best team in Africa, behind minnows such as Guinea and Mali. — Sapa-AFP