As the FIFA World Cup is about to kick off in Russia I am reminded of what I wrote before the 2010 one in South Africa. : I can still vividly remember the day FIFA decided to give Africa a chance to host its first soccer world cup. I wrote in this column of the excitement as I watched the event on TV in the town of Springs. I can also recall the disappointment I had when I went back to my suburb blaring the hooter and people behaved as if they don’t know what was going on. It brought to me, once more, how divided a nation we were. My excitement made it difficult for me to sit down at home. I could not understand the stoic posture of former President Mandela’s security guards when these news were announced. One of them was a son of Paarl whom I later asked about his state of mind at that moment. He told me that his work demand that he suppress his emotions and focus on the job as that moment could have been an opportunity for would-be assassins.
A lot has happened and have been said since that day as we are now less than a hundred days from hosting the first Soccer World Cup in Africa. Beautiful stadiums have been built whereas many claimed that this country will not be ready to host the world football. Some are still questioning the wisdom in building world class stadiums in a sea of poverty that is South Africa. One of the loud voices in this regard is business woman and academic Mamphela Ramphele. I listened to her making this point in a conference and asked myself why did we invite the world when we don’t want to build world-class facilities.
This country has managed to host a world-class FIFA Confederations Cup. The world watched as champions of different soccer playing regions strutted their staff in Mzantsi. I cannot recall some of them being murdered or maimed in any way. A scare was when Egypt shouted that they had been robbed in their hotel. We latter heard hat the soccer players had decided to be night players as well by hosting “ladies of the night” in their hotel rooms. This did not make it right for them to be robbed; all it says is that maybe if they had avoided breaking our laws they could have been safe.
There were hopes that at least two towns in the Boland could be hosting teams but by the time of writing this column none had succeeded in securing one. I read somewhere that there are people who are complaining about the money that has been invested in promoting these towns. They argue that this could have been invested in uplifting the two towns’ citizens. My thinking is that when you are bidding to host a team you are never guaranteed success and if you are not prepared to invest in your bid you might as well not bid. What we should say to these two municipalities in our region is that they should review objectively their strategies in this regard and see whether they could have done some things better.
We also need to explain that not hosting a team does not mean that there will be no opportunities in the area of tourism. Those who are involved in marketing the towns and its products have got to double their effort to ensure that soccer fans and other visitors come to our region. There is research to the effect that people do not only go to watch the games during a world cup by they also get to see the country. This is because, for other people, it is an opportunity that might not present itself again.
A disturbing factor is the fear that accommodation establishments and other tourist attractions might unreasonably hike their prices to exploit this period. This will be unfortunate as it will lead to our tourism industry suffering beyond the world cup. We do not want to be known as an expensive destination. This does not mean that our establishments should be dirt cheap so as not to recoup their inputs.
In about 98 days the FIFA World Cup will kick off on our back yard and I see a rainbow nation that is mostly excited. Please let us make ourselves proud.
Comments
Post a Comment