Football World Cup 2010 in South Africa

Inhaltsangabe:Introduction: ‘The government will leave no stone unturned to ensure that everything is done to host a tournament that meets the expectations of billions of football fans across the world…. Together we will ensure the resounding success of the first FIFA African World Cup’. With these words, the President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, promised football fans all around the world an amazing sporting event after his country was chosen to be the host of the Football World Cup (FWC) 2010. In its almost 80-year history, it is the first time this enormous sporting event will be held on African soil. Because of the big media interest and the increasing requirements of infrastructure, the FWC is a big challenge for the whole host country and especially the venues. But on the other hand the tournament offers great opportunities for the cities and municipalities to gain more international prestige and to become popular travel destinations. Such a huge event attracts millions of people from all over the globe, who come to support their team or just to enjoy the entire atmosphere around the event. Currently, nine South African host cities are busy at work to demonstrate to the whole world that their country is able to arrange an outstanding tournament. They have taken on a heavy burden, in order to bear comparison with the former host country Germany. The president of the FIFA, Sepp Blatter called the very successful football event in 2006 ‘the best World Cup of all time.’ Actually, the well organised ‘German Football Party of 2006’ is not South Africa's main problem at the moment. The workers that are building the stadiums were on strikes a few months ago. The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth was even dropped as a site for the Confederations Cup in 2009 because construction has fallen behind schedule. The crime rate in the country is extremely high and the poverty in certain areas is still a big problem. If that were not enough, a former professional football player from Austria was killed on a golf course in Durban, during the FIFA draw and a few weeks ago, the media report on xenophobic attacks in local townships. Unfortunately, all this bad news overshadowed the anticipation concerning the big event. In any case, South Africa is a country that has much to offer tourists from all around the world. The vast majority of the South Africans are friendly people that live in a country with beautiful landscapes, beaches, mountains and [...]