June 11, Friday is a date that will stay in all Africans and also the many soccer fans worldwide as the day Africa comes to be the venue for the FIFA World Cup. For the past 80 years, the FIFA World Cup host nations have alternated between Europe and the Americas Just how is the location for a FIFA World Cup decided?The latest selection policy is that any country can bid for the world cup as long as their continental confederation hasn’t hosted it in the past two years which makes a Africa very eligible. In the 2006 bidding, South Africa against Germany, the final count being 12 votes to 11. All countries that bid for the 2010 World Cup were African including South Africa, Morocco and Egypt. South Africa beat Morocco by 4 votes leading to this memorable event.Those are the ‘technical’ reasons why this years World Cup is being held in South Africa but is the country itself capable of holding such an event? I would answer with a resounding “Yes”.Here’s why:
* They’ve got a great team- that simple fact makes them deserving to have the great privilege of hosting the cup.If you’d ask me, having a World Cup in a country whose team isn’t even above average would be a disgrace. Even if you look back, the soccer teams of countries hosting the cup are usually first class like Brazil (1950), Argentina(1978) and Italy(1990). If South Africa was added to the list, nobody would mind.
* You should see the stadiums- as part of their preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, South Africa has constructed four brand new mind-blowing stadiums.One has a detractable glass roof, another with spectacular lighting, then there’s the ‘zebra’ inspired stadium located nearby the many game parks, and finally one that resembles the South African flag. Is there anything else you could want?
* Great Weather- wildlife aside, South Africa is renowned for it’s weather. It will be winter time when the World Football Tournament will take place. Don’t worry, our favorite players won’t freeze to death, South Africa’s winter temperature at midday, is warmer than most countries daily summer temperature! Lower temperatures have been proved to be better for athlete’s bodies so the average expected temperature of 20 degrees Celsius at 12pm noon will be great. With good weather, we can expect better performance..
* Africa- civilization as we know it has been thought to have begun in Africa and many African coutries hold soccer dear to their hearts. Could you think of a better venu for the world to unite? Also, during the Mandela era, football was a cause of unification and a force for the apartheid resistance. Having Soweto be the venue for the finals will add meaning and make the even even more memorable for the reason that Soweto has been the heart of South African soccer.
In my opinion, no controversy in the past four years can change the fact that South Africa is the best place for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and everyone should be proud that for the first time in history, Africa is holidng a sporting event this big.