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/ 23 October 2007
South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Monday that Bafana Bafana is not a fitting name for a national team. ”What kind of a name is it? I don’t think it is fit for a senior national team or for the hosts of the 2010 Fifa World Cup,” he told Metro FM on Monday.
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/ 16 October 2007
A senior Fifa official gave his seal of approval on Tuesday to South Africa’s preparations for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, playing down concerns about stadium construction after a recent strike. ”I am satisfied with the general preparations,” Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke said.
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/ 13 October 2007
Botswana President Festus Mogae hosted his counterparts from South Africa and Namibia at the opening on Friday of a new border crossing to allow for easier movement between the three countries. The crossing is situated in a desert area where the borders of Botswana, South Africa and Namibia meet.
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/ 11 October 2007
The 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa has already generated record levels of revenue three years before it kicks off, the head of the local organising committee said on Thursday. Danny Jordaan told the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry that doom merchants had been proved wrong.
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/ 11 October 2007
Fifa ended its three-day inspection tour of South Africa on Wednesday praising the progress made in building the stadiums that will be used for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. There have been concerns about the country’s high crime rate and poor transport system, as well as the pace of construction.
The 2010 Soccer World Cup is an opportunity to create a new image for Africa, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told President Thabo Mbeki on Friday. The two leaders met at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, where Mbeki hosted Merkel for talks as part of her official state visit to South Africa.
President Robert Mugabe presides over a disaster in Zimbabwe but should still be entitled to attend a forthcoming Europe-Africa summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday. Summing up talks in Pretoria with President Thabo Mbeki, Merkel said she made clear her disquiet about the situation across South Africa’s northern border.
Most of South Africa’s leading sports-medicine practitioners will gather in Kimberley on October 5 and 6 to deliberate on the health, medical and doping-control requirements for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The medical workshop will be held at the newly established Mayibuye Sports Science Institute in Galeshewe.
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/ 28 September 2007
The builders of Cape Town’s Green Point Stadium have admitted they are behind schedule because of several strikes by workers, but have promised to catch up soon. The admission differs markedly from the denial by Cape Town and 2010 officials, who insist all is on track.
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/ 27 September 2007
Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has criticised the South African soccer authorities for not showing more concern in his quest to shape up his team for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. ”We are hosting the World Cup in two-and-a-half years and people don’t seem to understand the urgency in preparing the team for it,” said Parreira.
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/ 21 September 2007
If ever there were a case of a sport taking itself too seriously, it arrived in Paris last week, when the geniuses who regard themselves as the guardians of the sport’s morals fined the McLaren team -million (about R700-million). It was grandstanding on a ludicrous scale.
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/ 18 September 2007
There is a ”massive” service crisis within rail-passenger company Metrorail, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday. There are also concerns about the Transnet division’s readiness for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, DA MP Mpowele Swath said in a statement. Responding, Metrorail on Tuesday denied the claims that it was experiencing a service crisis.
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/ 14 September 2007
A group of Afrikaner activists under the banner of AfriForum is off to Europe to draw the International Olympic Committee’s attention to the threat of interference in sport posed by the National Sport and Recreation Amendment Bill. The legislation was passed by the National Council of Provinces on Thursday.
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/ 14 September 2007
With just about 1 000 days to go to the 2010 Soccer World Cup, South African media fears about the commercialisation of the tournament and how it could hamper effective coverage of the event seem well-founded. Fifa marketing executive Sandile Ndzekeli refused to grant the Mail & Guardian the right to publish the images of three 2010 World Cup posters.
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/ 12 September 2007
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 nervousness over safety have left South Africa constantly having to reassure that all will be right.
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/ 7 September 2007
German soccer legend Franz Beckenbauer visited the construction site of Cape Town’s 2010 Soccer World Cup stadium on Friday and declared himself ”very, very impressed” with preparations. ”I am very, very impressed with the construction going on in Cape Town and it’s fantastic what the people in South Africa are doing in preparing themselves for the World Cup in 2010,” he said.
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/ 7 September 2007
The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CZC) has described as ”scandalous” the decision by Zimbabwe to spend up to -million on sprucing up hotels and its infrastructure to cash in on the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa. ”It’s a tragedy to try to create world-class facilities in a situation of misery,” CZC spokesperson Elinor Sisulu said.
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/ 6 September 2007
Preparation for the 2010 soccer World Cup in South Africa has entered its ”operational phase”, chief executive officer of the local organising committee Danny Jordaan said on Thursday. ”The 1 000-days countdown signals to us now the beginning of the operational phase”, he told a press conference ahead.
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/ 4 September 2007
Mamelodi Sundowns player Mpho Gift Leremi, who died in a car accident on Monday night, would have been a star in 2010, the minister of sport said on Tuesday. ”There is no doubt that Gift formed part of a nucleus of the Bafana Bafana plans for the 2010 Fifa World Cup establishment,” Makhenkesi Stofile said in a statement.
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/ 4 September 2007
Officials from soccer’s governing body, Fifa, will visit Zimbabwe next week to assess capacity to host fans from the 2010 World Cup to be held in neighbouring South Africa, Zimbabwe’s tourism authority said on Tuesday. The country hopes to cash in on its proximity to South Africa — the first African country to host the event.
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/ 4 September 2007
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Days before the opening match of the Rugby World Cup, a global coalition representing news agencies and newspapers is still at odds with the International Rugby Board (IRB) concerning coverage of the event. Despite progress on several fronts over the last two weeks, two points of contention concerning photographs remain.
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/ 3 September 2007
Information and communication technology (ICT) in South Africa is expected to get a boost from the 2010 Soccer World Cup, with infrastructure providers and local government spending billions to ensure a successful tournament, according to key players at the recent ICT Journalist Media Forum.
South Africa fears tourists could fall prey to armed robbers, many from neighbouring states, at the 2010 Soccer World Cup, a government minister said on Thursday. Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula told reporters the region’s police chiefs are trying to tackle cross-border crime.
When Germany’s women played their first international soccer game 25 years ago, school kids were bussed in to fill the stands and the public was at best bemused by the sight. Nobody is laughing now. Germany are the reigning world champions, the games are broadcast live on national television, the stadiums are full and the women command as much respect as their male colleagues.