When it was declared that South Africa will host the FIFA World Cup 2010, it was acclaimed as a way of uplifting African economy. According to the report of Alex Duval Smith, though this being the biggest event in this planet it can have a very little or negligible impact on the poor section of Africa. First to be written in the pages of history, when the game kicks off at Johannesburg, it looks a playground of the privileged. The game brings with it the world's most famous and rich players, but the chance to capitalize the situation and have a healthy economic prospect looks undermined.
The informal trader in Africa plays a big hand and is a vital factor of African economy. But unfortunately due to the insistence of FIFA, the African government has banned informal traders to run business from around the 10 stadiums where matches will be played. FIFA President, Sepp Blatter insisted that the objective of the whole program is to give Africa back for its contribution to world football through it's involvement in the game. He has spotted 20 centers at Africa to build it as the centre of academies. But radical columnist are here to make his statement wrong by saying that what Mr. Blatter is going to give Africa in the upcoming days is a month long euphoria but nothing more to change their economic realities.
If you are driven by the lines of the FIFA President then you are sure to be disappointed, because you are not going to see what he promises to make you see, says world's leading sports economists. The spending by visitors during the World Cup will be much less that what the government of South Africa will have to shell out to build world class infrastructure to host the event. Last time it was Germany, and obviously it was not at all a problem for a country like Germany to get prepared for the event. Germany already had good stadiums and if not also there would not have been a problem for them to build those. But such is not the case here. South Africa is sure to find it really difficult to do with such huge funds allocation in order to build the 10 stadiums it built. For instance is the world cup at 2002, where South Korea's K-league found it hard to fill the new stadiums which were built at a cost more than $2 billion.
Hosting a glamorous event like world cup can bring a electrifying moment with joy and happiness to stay for a while. But to people who lives at a meager $2 a day, world cup do not brings any change to their life whatsoever. The people who live at $2 a day find it hard to meet their very basic requirement of 2 meals a day can hardly imagine to get joy in watching game of football. Because when stomach bites you everything else flies away from your mind. So what the Africans are going to witness is all about joy and happiness but not much of the wealth they are given hope.
Such articles are bound to inspire some sort of thought. Be sure to have a look at this World Cup resource if you want more of the same!
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