It started on 26 January: the 500-day countdown to the kick-off of the Fifa World Cup soccer tournament in 2010. Are South Africans ready for it, should people be doing more to get involved, and how will the event change average South Africans lives?
We asked two sport experts and media personalities: Darren Scott, radio presenter on Jacaranda 94.2 and East Coast Radio, and George Dearnaley, former Bafana Bafana player and Media24’s soccer business manager.
Darren believes there isn’t enough hype yet but points out there wasn’t much enthusiasm when we hosted the Rugby World Cup. It’s the way we are - “we tend not to get emotional about events but are emotional about how our team fares”.
South Africans are aware of the coming tournament “but at this stage they’re looking only at how their lives will change. All that’s needed to fire people up are the overseas teams and their supporters”.
Dearnaley recalls it was difficult for 2002 World Cup hosts Japan and South Korea and 2006 hosts Germany to get their nations excited a year before those tournaments kicked off. “Those countries got serious with their support only much closer to the opening of the tournament.”
The big change won’t be in the lives of people but in the world’s perception of us as a nation, Dearnaley says. “Each international interview with a local becomes a valuable PR exercise for the country. If an overseas camera crew finds someone who complains about crime, is negative about the country and thinks we can’t organise a major sports event millions will see that footage and think, ‘If they’re so negative we might as well go somewhere else’. So how we portray ourselves to the world becomes very important.
“The Confederation Cup which starts on 14 June this year will provide a good foretaste of the World Cup. It’s just around the corner and should prompt people to think about how they can become more involved in 2010. By March next year we’ll definitely be ready and enthusiastic about the World Cup in June.”
- Read the full Q&A in the 19 February issue of YOU.
