an Eldis Resource
Development and dreams: the urban legacy of the 2010 Football World Cup
Potential development impact of the 2010 World Cup
Authors:
U. Pillay (ed); R. Tomlinson (ed); O. Bass (ed)
Publisher:
Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa, 2009
The FIFA World Cup is thought to be the biggest sport and media event in the world. It is a hugely profitable event for FIFA through the sale of television rights and sponsorship deals. The same, however, cannot be said of host countries and cities - economic projections are invariably erroneous, overestimating the benefits and understating the costs. In light of the South African government's intention to leverage the 2010 World Cup to assist in promoting economic development and halving unemployment by 2014, and given the project 30bn Rand South Africa will spend on the event, the debate and uncertain benefits are issues of great consequence. This book describes the build up to the event and assesses the development impacts of the 2010 World Cup, focusing on urban impacts, the debates and probably African legacy.
The significant opportunity for South Africa in hosting the 2010 World Cup lies in contradicting commonly held representations of Africa by utilising the event to project a contemporary, reinvigorated image of Africa, and through celebrating African culture and identity. Moreover, there is potential to destabilise notions of Afro-pessimism through demonstrating that Africans can successfully manage the World Cup.
Previous sporting events in South Africa, most notably the hosting of the 1995 Rugby World Cup and the winning of the 2007 World Cup, have had a cohesive effect on identity and a positive impact on the image of the country. Yet in some ways this remains a transient moment and its legacy is mythical rather than practical. A worsening economic outlook, inflation, rising interest rates, fuel hikes and xenophobic riots have somewhat eclipsed the positive impact of previous events. Notwithstanding these exceptions, opportunity does still exist to mobilise the World Cup in order to tell different, more meaningful and contemporary stories about African life and experience. If a legacy is to be left in this regard, the potential to destabilise common stereotypes and Africa and Afro-pessimism should not be underestimated.
