For the first time, the soccer World Cup will take place in Africa. Joseph Blatter, president of FIFA, felt that the time had come for a country in this continent to become the host of such an appreciated event. But the road towards the first African World Cup was not free of pitfalls.
Aside from South Africa, which ended up being selected as the host for the Cup in 2004, the countries of Egypt, Morocco and Lybia and Tunez were also considered as candidates.
The 27th Cup of Nations of Africa took place last January in Angola, where Egypt emerged as the champion. But the event put into question the future security of a tournament of the magnitude of the World Cup on African soil, when a guerrilla attack (FLEC-PM) forced the team from Togo to retire from the competition when their buses where gunned down, resulting in three deaths and nine people injured.
However, FIFA and the World Cup committee assured that what happened in Angola was something far from South African reality. In the six years this host had to prepare itself, the challenge was not free of complications.
The initial budget for the event was estimated at $300 million. By March of 2010, the amount was reaching $8.4 billion. They were also projecting an attendance of 450,000 international fans, and three months from the inauguration, the committee still had 350,000 tickets to sell.
Then, 11 months before the inauguration -which takes place this June-, 70,000 construction workers, who initially earned $1.75 an hour, went on strike, freezing the construction of the stadiums and demanding a raise in salaries. Of the 13 percent raise that workers asked for, the construction companies ended up giving a 12 percent raise, with paid meals, sick days and maternity benefits.
All of this was happening while rumors started that the preparations and constructions had been delayed to a point where other countries outside the continent were being considered to replace the location.
Danny Jordaan, president of the committee in charge of organizing the Cup, said there was never an emergency plan to move the tournament to another country. And although Joseph Blatter mentioned that the U.S. would have been capable of hosting the games at the last minute in the event of a natural disaster, he said that plan A, B and C were always South Africa.
All of this uncertainty seemed to dissipate when in June of 2009, while celebrating the Federations Cup, a tournament preliminary to the World Cup, ended up being a show-level success. The image of the committee was no longer questioned, utilizing four stadiums out of the ten projected for the World Cup.
Out of the ten stadiums that will host games for the World Cup, five were renovated, three were re-built and two were built brand new. The Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg, with room for 95,000 spectators, will be the scene for the inaugural match between México and South Africa, as well as of the grand finale.
In a second stadium with a capacity for 70,000 people, Ellis Park, also in Johannesburg, was the finale of the Rugby World Cup in 1995.
The Loftus Versfeld stadium in Tshwane, Pretoria, is home of one of the most renowned clubs in the country, the Sundowns Football Club.
The two new stadiums are Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit, and the Nelson Mandela of Port Elizabeth.
Among the rebuilt ones are the Peter Mokaba stadium in the city of Polokwane, named in honor of the anti-apartheid activist, and the Moses Mabhida stadium in the city of Durban, named in honor of a labor class leader.
With the construction of all these stadiums, it was clear that South Africa would welcome the World Cup.
Leaving behind the shadow of apartheid and the bitter memory of having been excluded from all World Cups and Olympic games from 1964 to 1992, South Africa began a new stage of sports when it was granted the Rugby World Cup in 1995, and the one for cricket in 2003, sharing with Zimbabwe and Kenya.
Naturally the next step is what FIFA is now doing, giving South Africa the honor and responsibility of going forward with the nineteenth World Cup.
The world now only awaits for the sound of the first whistle on June 11th in Johannesburg.
–Translated by Mabel Jiménez-Hernández