Tweet
World Cup 2010: The coming out party that will make a mint for Fifa
As flags sprout from doorways and cars, the organisers' vision of the World Cup as the ultimate "nation building" event, helping write a new chapter in the country's post-apartheid history, appears justified. "It's about bringing a country and society that had been virtually at war for many years together in a new democratic, non-sexist South Africa," Jordaan declared in a speech at Stamford Bridge in March.
And yet. The South African media has loudly questioned whether the World Cup will do more for Fifa, which has banked a record $3.2bn (£2.2bn) in media and marketing revenues, and its sponsors than the host country and its people. The global governing body argues that those revenues fund its development work around the world and everything it does in the four years between World Cups. Under its profitable model, costs are borne by the host nation and all marketing and media revenues retained by Fifa.
(continue)
As flags sprout from doorways and cars, the organisers' vision of the World Cup as the ultimate "nation building" event, helping write a new chapter in the country's post-apartheid history, appears justified. "It's about bringing a country and society that had been virtually at war for many years together in a new democratic, non-sexist South Africa," Jordaan declared in a speech at Stamford Bridge in March.
And yet. The South African media has loudly questioned whether the World Cup will do more for Fifa, which has banked a record $3.2bn (£2.2bn) in media and marketing revenues, and its sponsors than the host country and its people. The global governing body argues that those revenues fund its development work around the world and everything it does in the four years between World Cups. Under its profitable model, costs are borne by the host nation and all marketing and media revenues retained by Fifa.
(continue)
Comment