Southafrika 2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup is the 19th and current FIFA World Cup, the premier international association football tournament. It is being held in South Africa, beginning on 11 June and scheduled to conclude on 11 July 2010. The tournament is the culmination of a qualification process that began in August 2007 and involved 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams
Africa was chosen as the host for the 2010 World Cup as part of a short-lived policy, abandoned in 2007,to rotate the event among football confederations. Five African nations placed bids to host the 2010 World Cup:
Egypt
Libya /
Tunisia (co-hosting)
Morocco
South Africa
Following the decision of the FIFA Executive Committee not to allow co-hosted tournaments, Tunisia withdrew from the bidding process. The committee also decided not to consider Libya's solo bid as it no longer met all the stipulations laid down in the official List of Requirements.
After one round of voting, the winning bid was announced by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at a media conference on 15 May 2004 in Zürich. South Africa was awarded the rights to host the tournament, defeating Morocco and Egypt.
| Voting Results | |
|---|---|
| Country | Votes |
| South Africa | 14 |
| Morocco | 10 |
| Egypt | 0 |
During 2006 and 2007, rumours circulated in various news sources that the 2010 World Cup could be moved to another country. Some people, including Franz Beckenbauer, Horst R. Schmidt and, reportedly, some FIFA executives, expressed concern over the planning, organisation, and pace of South Africa's preparations However, FIFA officials repeatedly expressed their confidence in South Africa as host, stating that a contingency plan existed only to cover natural catastrophes, as had been in place at previous FIFA World Cups.
Post-Apartheid era
In response to the incidents during qualification, and to a match fixing controversy, on 2 December 2009 FIFA called for an extraordinary general meeting of their Executive Committee. After the meeting, FIFA announced that they would be setting up an inquiry into technology and extra officials in the game, but they did not announce the widely expected move of fast-tracking the introduction of goal-line referee's assistants, already tested in the Europa League, and instead restated that the competition in South Africa would be officiated as before, with just one referee, two assistants, and a fourth official.
On the subject of fair play, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said:
Five new stadiums have been built for the tournament, and five of the existing venues have been upgraded. Construction costs are expected to be R8.4bn.[
In addition to the stadiums built and upgraded, South Africa also improved its current public transport infrastructure within the various cities, with projects such as the Gautrain and the new Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT) titled Rea Vaya. Danny Jordaan, the president of the 2010 World Cup organising committee, has said that he expects all stadiums for the tournament to be completed by October 2009.
The country implemented special measures to ensure the safety and security of local and international tourists attending the matches in accordance with standard FIFA requirements, including a temporary restriction of flight operation in the airspace surrounding the stadiums.
The readiness of this African nation to host one of the biggest events in a sports that is worshiped by millions has received positive response from FIFA. FIFA has rated the readiness of South Africa at eight on a scale of 10 with the hope that they would be completely ready before the matches actually start.
Construction strike
70,000 construction workers who were supposed to be working on the new stadiums walked off their jobs on 8 July 2009. The majority of the workers receive R2500 per month (about £192, €224 or $313), but the unions allege that some workers are grossly underpaid. A spokesperson for the National Union of Mineworkers said to the SABC that the "no work no pay" strike will go on until FIFA assesses penalties on the organisers. Other unions threatened to strike into 2011. The World Cup organising committee downplayed the strike and expressed confidence that the stadiums will be readyAltitude
It is claimed that the altitude of several venues will affect the motion of the ball[23] and impact player performance although FIFA's medical chief has denied this.[25] Six of the ten venues are over 1200m above sea level, with the two Johannesburg stadia (Soccer City and Ellis Park) the highest at approximately 1750m. The stadia in order of altitude are: Soccer City and Ellis Park Stadium, 1753m; Royal Bafokeng Stadium, 1500m; Free State Stadium, 1400m; Peter Mokaba Stadium, 1310m; Loftus Versfeld Stadium, 1214m; Mbombela Stadium, 660m; Cape Town Stadium, Moses Mabhida Stadium and Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium near sea level.he total prize money on offer for the tournament was confirmed by FIFA as $420 million, a 60 percent increase on the 2006 tournament. Before the tournament, each participating team would receive $1 million, for preparation costs. Once at the tournament, teams exiting at the group stage would receive $8 million. Thereafter, the prize money would be distributed as follows:
- $9 million – Round of 16
- $18 million – Quarter-finals
- $20 million – Semi-finals
- $24 million – Runners up
- $30 million – Winners
In a first for the World Cup, there would also be payments made by FIFA to the domestic clubs of the players representing their national teams at the tournament. This would see a total of €26 million being paid to domestic clubs, amounting to just over €1,000 per player per day.
This was the result of an agreement reached in 2008 between FIFA and European clubs to disband the G-14 group and drop their claims for compensation dating back to 2005 over the financial cost of injuries sustained to their players while on international duty, such as that from Belgian club Charleroi S.C. for injury to Morroco's Abdelmajid Oulmers in a friendly game in 2004, and from English club Newcastle United for an injury to England's Michael Owen in the 2006 World Cup.Mascot
The official mascot for the 2010 FIFA World Cup is Zakumi (born 16 June 1994 ), an anthropomorphised leopard with green hair, presented on 22 September 2008. His name comes from "ZA" (the international abbreviation for South Africa) and the term kumi, which means "ten" in various African languages.[43] The mascot's colours reflect those of the host nation's playing strip – yellow and green.
Zakumi's birthdate coincides with a day known and celebrated as Youth Day in South Africa and their second group match. The first non-racial nationwide elections in South Africa were in 1994. Zakumi will turn 16 in 2010. Andries Odendaal, from Cape Town, created the original character design.
Zakumi's official motto is: "Zakumi's game is Fair Play." The motto was seen in the digital advertisement boards during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, and it will also appear at the 2010 FIFA World CupOfficial song
The official song of the FIFA world cup "Waka Waka" is presented by the Colombian singer Shakira and the band Freshlyground from South Africa, and is sung in both English and Spanish.[50] The song is based upon a traditional African soldiers' song named Zangalewa.Shakira and Freshlyground performed the song at the pre-tournament Kick-Off concert in Soweto on 10 June. It was also sung at the opening ceremony on 11 June and will be performed at the final on 11 July.
Match ball
The match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, manufactured by adidas, is named the Jabulani, which means "bringing joy to everyone" in isiZulu. The number eleven plays a prominent role in the new technologically advanced ball: it is the eleventh World Cup match ball made by the German sports equipment maker; it features eleven colours, one for each player on the pitch; and there are eleven official languages in South Africa. A special match ball with gold panels will be used at the final held in Johannesburg.
The ball was also used as the match ball of the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, and a special version of the ball, the Jabulani Angola, was the match ball of the 2010 African Cup of Nations. This ball is also used in the 2009/2010 season of South Africa's Premier Soccer League, as well as the country's 2010 Nedbank Cup, 2010 Clausura Tournament of Argentina as well as the 2010 MLS season in the US in the league's colours of blue and green.
The ball is constructed using a new design, consisting of eight thermally bonded, three-dimensional panels. These are spherically moulded from ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) and thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU). The surface of the ball is textured with grooves, a technology developed by Adidas called GripnGroove that is intended to improve the ball's aerodynamics. The design has received considerable academic input, being developed in partnership with researchers from Loughborough University, United Kingdom.
The balls are made in China, using latex bladder made in India, thermoplastic polyurethane-elastomer from Taiwan, ethylene vinyl acetate, isotropic polyester/cotton fabric, glue and ink from China.
Hosts South Africa were automatically positioned as A1; the other seeded teams were drawn into position 1 of the other groups B–H. Groups were drawn from A to H and the positions in the group were drawn for Pots 2 to 4. Geographical criteria also were respected, meaning that no two teams from the same confederation were drawn in the same group, except allowing a maximum of two European teams in a group. South Africa could not be drawn with the African teams from Pot 3 and Argentina and Brazil could not be drawn against the three remaining South American teams. The first two African teams drawn from Pot 3 were to be placed with Argentina and Brazil| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa |  Argentina |  England |  Germany |
 Mexico |  Nigeria |  United States |  Australia |
 Uruguay |  Korea Republic |  Algeria |  Serbia |
 France |  Greece |  Slovenia |  Ghana |
| Group E | Group F | Group G | Group H |
|---|---|---|---|
 Netherlands |  Italy |  Brazil |  Spain |
 Denmark |  Paraguay |  Korea DPR |  Switzerland |
 Japan |  New Zealand |  Côte d'Ivoire |  Honduras |
 Cameroon |  Slovakia |  Portugal |  Chile |
FIFA selected the following referees to officiate at the World Cup:
Opening celebration concert
The first-ever FIFA World Cup Kick-Off Celebration Concert] took place on 10 June at Orlando Stadium in Soweto/Johannesburg. Warm-up acts including Goldfish, 340ml and Tumi Molekane performed before the internationally televised portion of the concert began at 20:00 local time. The three-hour main event included performances by Alicia Keys, Amadou & Mariam, Angelique Kidjo, Black Eyed Peas, BLK JKS, Freshlyground, John Legend, Juanes, K'Naan Lira, Hugh Masekela, Shakira, The Parlotones, Tinariwen, Vieux Farka Touré, and Vusi Mahlasela.[65]
Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony took place on 11 June at 14:00 local time at Soccer City in Johannesburg, two hours before the opening match of the tournament. It lasted some 40 minutes, and included some 1500 performers, including Thandiswa Mazwai, Timothy Moloi, Hugh Masekela, Khaled, Femi Kuti, Osibisa, R Kelly, Hip Hop Pantsula, the Soweto Gospel Choir. Dignitaries present included South African president Jacob Zuma, United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, Mexican president Felipe Calderon, Monaco's Prince Albert, Desmond Tutu, and Sepp Blatter, but a noted absentee was Nelson Mandela, whose great-grand-daughter was killed in a car crash earlier in the day.
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