If on May 15, the FIFA voting delegates give the World Cup 2010 hosting rights to a country whose national team has performed impressively internationally, then South Africa is already out of the race. FIFA ranks Mauritius number 123 rd in the world and yet they embarrassingly beat us a shocking 2-0.
By the time the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) games started, it was already evident that Bafana Bafana would not survive the Group of Death.
The messy events before and during the Afcon games were sweet music to our bidding opponents in the North of Africa. First, a player was turned back at the airport for taking a passport that had expired long ago. Then, after beating Benin 2-0, players demanded more money. But a few days later they were routed 4-0 by Nigeria .
To make matters worse, during the tournament the advertisements adjacent to the pitches gave a clear message that “2010 is for Northern Africa “. South Africa ‘s World Cup Bid advert was put behind the goal mouths whilst those of Tunisia-Libya , Morocco and Egypt were predominant on the sidelines.
This was an obvious “put them down” trick by the Tunisian soccer authorities or whoever suggested the act, a reminder that Africa is far from united.
The worrying factor is there are some hidden indications that the CAF president favours Morocco even though he is not saying it. Those who extended his mandate did not mind that his 20 years presidency benefited the continent little in terms of football growth and development.
As the road to May 15 gets rockier, the leaders of France and Spain have publicly stated their support for Morocco . This is not surprising because both countries have economic interests in Morocco .
Not directly attacking us, Moroccan soccer officials say their country does not have infectious diseases. This is an underhanded reference to the HIV/Aids problem in the Southern African region. But the reality is Aids is a global problem, it is not only confined to Southern Africa , and the FIFA World Cup events are not for sex but for football!
Morocco has put R 1.3 billion in a Swiss Bank for the construction of stadiums and other projects, should they win the bid. Other North African countries, Libya and Tunisia , have bid to co-host but they are just in the race to boost their neighbour’s chances. FIFA has already stated that co-hosting will not be acceptable. Libya still has to clear her image in terms of relations with the international community. With Libya having “image problems”, Tunisia will not have the capacity to host the type of tournament that attracts millions from around the world. The quieter opponent, Egypt , seems to have lost interest in the race.
Compared to South Africa , Morocco still needs to do a lot in terms of infrastructure.
So we can still pull a surprise as a result. Our Professional Soccer League attracts an annual sponsorship of R160 million, the richest league in Africa followed by Egypt .
The man who undermined our chances to win the World Cup 2006 Bid, Charles Dempsey, has assured the South African Bid Committee that he will do his best to assist. Having frequented the FIFA structures for a long time, Dempsey has some positive influence that could help us realise the dream.
When he was here the German Chancellor also pledged to support the South African Bid. It does not really matter that Morocco was the first country to qualify for the World Cup games in 1970, nor that we were expelled by CAF and FIFA until 1992 because of apartheid. We cannot be blamed for not participating in the ’70s. The fact is, the South African bid is representative of all of Africa , not only a certain portion of Africans.
The lobbying continues until April. FIFA will announce a winner on May 15 in Zurich . To the Bid Committee we say good luck, we are optimistic that when he opens the envelope on May 15 FIFA president, Sett Blatter will say, “Afrique Du Sud”.
Pic: Bafana Bafana’s 2000 Afcon 2-0 defeat by Nigeria came back to haunt the players when they again succumbed to Nigeria , 4-0, in this year’s Afcon game AP