- Wednesday 12, May-2004

by PHILIP SPOONER

Nelson Mandela (centre) with Danny Jordaan (left), head of South Africa’s 2010 delegation, and Irvin Khosa, chairman of the bid committee and head of the South African Professional League, in Sandton City, Johannesburg, on Monday.


SOUTH AFRICA will have the full support of Barbados when the vote is made on Saturday to determine which African nation will host the 2010 Football World Cup.

The Barbados Football Association (BFA) has decided to make this move after South Africa’s delegation presented an excellent bid during the recent CONCACAF Congress in St Georges, Grenada.

“There is always a certain level of nostalgia for South Africa,” said BFA president Ronald Jones. “They had an excellent chance to host the 2006 World Cup and some of us in this part of the world felt hard-done. I believe South Africa stands an excellent chance, but that is not to say that the other countries did not make impressive presentations and had impressive bids – they did.

“But when you think of Africa, in this instance, we more look towards South Africa. I think that the strides and steps South Africa has made in the last ten years – emerging out of apartheid – we need to celebrate with them.”

Jones added that it would be testimony to the heart and spirit of freedom fighters like Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Desmond Tutu that the world should give South Africa the World Cup.

Mandela yesterday flew to FIFA headqurters in Zurich, Switzerland, as part of South Africa’s continued efforts to convince the sport’s world governing body of their commitment to hosting the best World Cup ever.

South Africa are favourites to host the tournament and member of the delegation, Nonji Oliphant, told the DAILY NATION that they were confident of winning the race to host the event.

“Football is the most widely played sport in South Africa – it’s unchallenged as the national sport,” she said. “We have developed several strategies towards hosting such a major event and we are hoping the football world will have faith in us to handle this great feat.”

As part of their approach, the South Africans have used the successful hosting of last year’s Cricket World Cup to boost their cause. The “Rainbow Nation” of 42 million has proposed 9 stadia, including the gigantic Soccer City in Johannesburg which seats 95 000 as the venue for the final. This will also house the main media facility.

Egypt, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia are the other countries bidding for the event. South Africa are also hoping that their bid was boosted last week when a FIFA technical report rated its facilities as the best of the five competing countries.

South Africa missed out on staging the 2006 World Cup to Germany by one vote when Oceania delegate Charles Dempsey defied orders to vote for them and abstained.

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