world Cup-South Africa 2010

The world Cup is once again around the corner with hopes dashed and dreams accomplished. It was just like yesterday that we had the last edition of the World cup in Germany and yet four years have come to pass. From the uncertainties of participation in the qualifier round to the joy of qualification, the World Cup fever is now on in earnest with less than 38 days to go to the kick off of the world greatest football jamboree. This excitement around the World Cup leads one to ask the question; why so much interest in the World Cup.
Football is the king sport in the world and the football world cup serves as a platform for countries to market their image besides the purely sporting aspect of the event. It goes without saying that the World cup is a great opportunity for tourism both for the participating countries and host country. Hordes of fans flood into the host country and spend money in hotels and other forms of recreation which serves as a great foreign exchange winner for the concerned countries. As for the participating countries, many organise cultural events or promotional activities for their countries as a tourist destination on the sidelines of the event. There is also a certain publicity that goes along with winning the world cup as people try to find out more about the country that wins the World Cup. Experience has proven that the volume of tourists that visit a country increase after winning the World Cup.

In addition to the opportunity of selling the image of a country, the World Cup represents much in the career of a footballer. It is the dream of every footballer to participate in the final round of the World Cup at least once in his career given that there are star players who end their career without having disputed a match in the final round of the World Cup. It is therefore an honour or pride for a player or country to take part in the final round of the World Cup.

Thirdly, football also serves as artificial warfare, only it is void of the destruction of life and property. Many countries use the football game to settle old political differences and boost the artificial pride of the country. Such was the case when the USA clashed with Iran in the Korea-Japan World Cup in 2002 or when Senegal defeated France in the same edition of the World Cup. Because of the political undertones, teams in the World Cup serve as ambassadors of their region. It is for this reason that African fans support any African team that performs well in the competition and any injustice done against them is perceived as injustice against the African continent or the Blackman as a whole. This battle is not only at the level of competition but also at the level of organisation. That is why the decision confiding the organisation of the 2010 World Cup to South Africa was acclaimed all over the continent and the African teams taking part in the competition feel it is a singular opportunity for an African team to win the World Cup.