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Is the 2010 Soccer World Cup good or bad for the country?

The topic “…Stadia and the Socio-economic and Political Impact of the 2010 World Cup" was hotly debated by a panel of academics and university students at a Rhodes Humanities’ Faculty seminar that took place on Wednesday evening (29 April).

The seminar, jointly organised with the Harold Wolpe Memorial Trust and the East Cape Consortium, kicked of with each of the three panellists - Professor Ashwin Desai (Rhodes), Professor Brij Maharaj (University of Kwazulu Natal) and Mr Christopher McMichael (PhD candidate, Rhodes) - briefly presenting their papers before the floor was opened to the audience.

The aim of the presentations was to critically reflect on the role of sport in local economic development (LED), examine the impacts of international sporting events such as the Olympic games and Word Soccer Cup (WSC), discuss 2010 world cup positive aspects, analyse the politics of FIFA and finally, to reflect on the impact of the 2010 FIFA world cup on the poor in SA.

McMichael looked at how the safety and security preparations have been viewed as a test of governance by the media and academia. He said the assumption was that the preparations will benefit South Africa in the long term. “I argue that this ignores the actual ownership structure of the event, which entails the South African government protecting FIFA's investment.

“Furthermore, while the safety and security arrangements are being used to market a positive image of South Africa to the world, international experience suggests that such mega-event security can have long-term negative consequences for host countries and cities.”

Maharaj whose paper was titled “The Elite Score While the Poor are Red-carded”, discussed the politics of FIFA, the impact that the Soccer World Cup will have on the poor and how investment will be boosted.

Maharaj reminded the audience that during the early 90s, South Africa had four cities bidding for the Olympics to promote development through foreign investment. The key question, asked Maharaj is, “Who really benefits in the end?”

He pointed out that R26 billion in TV rights is in FIFA’s hands before the first ball of the World Cup Soccer is even booted into play. “Can South Africa afford the spending? What are the social implications of having a sophisticated stadium built when there are still children being educated from mud huts?” he also asked,

Desai took centre-stage arguing that he would rather be cynical of cynics as he could not understand why the intellectuals appeared to be so negative. He said, “This is the greatest show South Africa has hosted since the 1930s.” He agreed that there are problems such as ANC Youth League issues, heightened racial tension and gender-based violence.

However, he believes that we shouldn’t forget about the advantages of hosting the World Cup Soccer in South Africa. His positive points included the increase of power of FIFA in Africa, the opportunity South Africa has to unite through sport and the acceleration of healing in South Africa as a result of sport bringing with it more deracialisation.

He reminded the audience that Madiba shed a tear when he first heard about South Africa winning the bid to show the importance of the soccer world cup.


The aim of the Harold Wolpe Memorial Trust is to foster critical intellectual thinking, writing, debate and discussion on themes related to social, political, economic and cultural conditions, including their historical genesis and their change, development and transformation. The Wolpe legacy is one of impersonal, detached yet unquestionably moral scholarship in the service of freedom, social justice and the liberation movement.

Pic: From left - right: Professor Ashwin Desai, Mr Christopher McMichael and Professor Brij Maharaj.