South African World Cup Bid Committee chairperson Irvin Khoza, officially launched the South African 2010 World Cup Soccer bid in Cape Town on Tuesday night, describing the event as symbolic and functional.
Speaking at a gala dinner in Cape Town’s civic centre, he said South Africans were faced with the challenge of ensuring the World Cup was made a memorable spectacle, since it would be the first time Africa would host the event.
”We take off from where our cricket colleagues left off,” Khoza said.
”I, as an African, want the World Cup to be hosted for the first time in 100 years in Africa. It is in keeping with the ideals of the African renaissance, the ideals President Thabo Mbeki and our government support.”
Khoza added that bidding for and ultimately hosting an event of the magnitude of the World Cup presented the kind of opportunity to
seize and demonstrate to ”ourselves and the world that we just cannot stop the magic at all”.
Sport Minister Ngconde Balfour said the gathering set in motion a campaign that would resonate throughout the country and the entire continent.
”I am proud to announce that we are ready to take up the challenge of hosting the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup and that we have the capacity to respond in the appropriate manner to that challenge,” he said.
”This is an important day for us. It is important for our continent. Fifa has spoken. It is Africa in 2010. Indeed, if it is Africa, why not South Africa. We have successfully hosted the rugby World Cup in 1995. We hosted the cricket World Cup in 2003 to vast international acclaim.
Now we are giving notice that our continent and Fifa can entrust us with hosting the football World Cup in 2010.”
Balfour said the bid belonged to all South Africans.
”It has the active support of our government and President Mbeki has on numerous occasions expressed his total support for the bid.”
Mbeki, in his opening speech during the Presidential Awards last month, pleaded for support of the bid from the corporate world.
Sport channel SuperSport moved into the jig-saw puzzle at the dinner when it joined heavyweight conglomerates — BMW, Anglo American, Momentum Life, Phillips, Southern Sun and FNB as official sponsors of the bid campaign.
The channel fired what SA World Cup Bid Committee chief executive Danny Jordaan described as a ”booster rocket” when it pledged R10-million for the campaign.
Balfour said that when Fifa president Sepp Blatter announces the hosting country in May next year it would be a ”profound and poignant” South Africa.
”We will rise as one and together with the rest of Africa — our confidence in our people and continent will be vindicated,” he said. – Sapa